Faithful Night
by xSummersx
Summary: ARIEL/ERIC...What happens if Vanessa never showed up? What if Ariel does instead? A different version of The Little Mermaid.
1. Out of the Darkness

**Hello again everyone! I hope this story finds you in good health (haha). Anyway I want to once again thank everyone who sent a review for my last story. They were very encouraging and inspiring. So thank you thank you! It's because of you I continue to write more. So enjoy and God Bless!**

The night weighed heavy upon him as he played his flute into the pitch black silence. Below him, the waves provided the only other audible noise as they crashed against the shoreline. Finishing out the last notes of his solemn melody he dropped the instrument to his side with a sigh.

"You know Eric," the silence was suddenly interrupted by Grimsby who placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "If I may say…far better than any dream girl, is one of flesh and blood. One warm, caring, and right before your eyes."

With that, he left just and soon as he had come, letting his words linger in the young Prince's mind.

_It's not that easy Grim. _

With a little bit of anger now starting to grow in him he looked out at sea for a moment before his gaze turned to look up at her lit window, perhaps hoping he would catch a glimpse of her, or hoping that she would be watching him like she had been when he was playing with Max.

Regardless, he wasn't lucky enough to have either happen this night. This got another heavy sigh from the Prince. He looked down at his flute in thought for a moment.

Ever since the moment he saw her on the beach that day, the redhead had been in his thoughts constantly. But just as much on his mind was the mysterious woman who saved him that day; the angel with the most beautiful voice he had ever heard. Not a moment went by though, he had to admit, where he didn't wish the two were one in the same.

He owed his life to the mystery girl and never before in his life had a voice captivated him like hers had. And in Ariel he found pure happiness at the way she viewed the world. She had a light that shined brighter than any person he had ever met and part of him knew he wanted to get to know her better.

Was it worth it? Really, was it? He shifted uncomfortably as the thoughts flew through his mind at a million miles a minutes. Was it really worth losing someone like Ariel to pursue someone who, really, might not even exist? She wasn't anything like the girls he had met in his life. The stuck up Princesses, who were only after him for his money, his looks, or status of being Queen in his kingdom. He got angry just thinking about them.

But Ariel had a radiance about her and a gentle curiosity about the world that Eric truly found incredible. She seemed to find an interest in anything and everything. She always seemed to be on an adventure and he found through the short time he was with her, that she also had a love for the sea. And, through observance, it was just as powerful, if not more, than his love for it.

And that was when he had made up his mind. Ariel had slowly made a place for herself in his heart that took away the place of his mysterious rescuer and there was no longer a doubt in his mind. Ariel might not be able to speak, but her movements and smile had spoken volumes to him. He had just been too blind to see it until now.

He was truly in love with her.

Looking down he clutched his flute tightly for a moment before taking a few steps back and casting the instrument out into the churning waves below. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he collected himself for what he was about to do.

Once he felt he was ready, he turned to start heading up to Ariel's room only to stop the moment he started walking. There she stood before him in her pink nightgown, staring at him with concern and something else he couldn't quite figure out.

"Ariel," the name left him before he could stop.

She continued to stare at him for a moment before she slowly started to make her way to him. He watched her carefully, and noted that she truly did look beautiful no matter what she seemed to be doing; tonight was no exception. The way the moonlight shone off her and how her hair and nightgown danced about her made her look angelic to him.

Finally, she reached him where she slowly lifted up her hand and placed it on his cheek soothingly as if to ask if he was okay, concern still apparent on her face.

Eric finally came out of his silent reverie, coming to terms that she really was in front of him now. Her hand felt very warm against his cool skin and he finally gave out a small smile.

"I'm fine," he answered her silent question.

He put his hand over hers for a moment before slowly taking it and putting it back down at her side. Finally having her here, though, he felt he wouldn't be able to confess.

His thoughts were put aside for the moment when he noticed her give a visible shiver and fold her arms in front of her.

"Here."

He undid the ties of his cloak and placed it around her where she gave him a bright smile, the smile he had grown to love seeing. Seeing as how he was the main converser among them he felt he needed to break the silence.

"Would you like to go for a walk with me?"

Once again she gave him her bright smile and nodded enthusiastically. They walked around the castle balcony and headed down the large flight of stairs that led to the beach shores below. Eric happened to slip a glance to Ariel to see her face brighten when they finally reached the shore. They walked in silence for a moment until she broke away from him momentarily and headed up to where the water was lapping onto the sand. She picked up the bottom of her nightgown and slowly stepped into the lukewarm water.

He watched as she closed her eyes in comfort and walked through the water gracefully. She then opened her eyes and turned back to him with another smile. He gave a smile in return and then she beckoned him to join her.

After a moment of debate he bent down and rolled up his pants to his knees and walked into the familiar lapping waves. He really enjoyed nights when he could sneak out an do this, but upon watching Ariel he came to the conclusion she liked it more than him; the thought made him smile again as he watched her walk about. And upon having watched her for a while he started to notice, perhaps, that she look like she belonged where she was.

She bent down and picked up a shell and treated it as if it was the most precious thing, slowly running her fingers along it as she admired it from all angles. She then headed over and handed it to him.

He watched her for an emotion to tell him why she was giving it to him.

"It's a shell," he said, thinking maybe she wanted him to tell her what it was.

It was a reasonable guess, since she asked him what many objects were and what they did. She gave him a silent giggle and shook her head softly. He watched her closely when she took it back and then took one of his hands and slowly ran it over the shell; as if she was trying to relay to him a deeper meaning.

"Pretty?" he then said, and immediately wondered why.

She gave another bright smile and nodded to him. She then waded out a little ways and gently tossed the shell back into the water before once again returning to his side. Eric got out of the water and put his boots back on. When he turned back he found Ariel staring out at sea. But more than that, she seemed to look longingly out at it, as if maybe she were missing something.

"Ariel?"

She turned back to him for a moment and he saw a glint in her eye before she cast her gaze back out to sea.

_Is she…crying? _

He approached her cautiously, putting his hand on her arm softly. She turned back to him at his touch and he saw that her eyes were indeed a little wet, though no tears were spilling over.

"Are you all right?"

She gave another smile, her only way to communicate with him, before she gave a nod and wiped at her eyes for a moment.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

When the statement left his mouth he immediately felt foolish and hoped that he didn't upset her on account of her mute status. She seemingly didn't care of the statement, but rather seemed happy that he asked. She pointed out to sea and he followed her finger to see if she was pointing to something in particular. She then took her extended finger and pointed at herself and this took Eric back in thought for a moment.

The moment he met her he had to help her into the castle because she was uneasy on her feet. He had tried his best at the time to have a conversation with her as he helped her. He had asked her where she was from and she just pointed out to sea. He had actually brought up the question numerous times, seeing if maybe he would be able to guess it one of these days, but every times she just pointed out to sea.

He would have looked at a map to see what islands were in the general direction she was pointing but each time it was in a different location that he had asked her, and also she would stare at him confused when he did actually start naming landmasses.

However, tonight was different. Tonight, she was pointing at the sea and then to herself. To add more she was crying a little about the situation.

"The sea? Is there something about it that is getting to you?"

She nodded at first, but when he ended the question she shook her head and continued to point to herself and then to the sea. He gave a frown and furrowed his brows in thought.

"I'm sorry," he said in frustration. "I'm not very good at this."

She merely gave another silent giggle and took his hand, as if to say it was okay.

Her hand felt warm to him…and it also felt right to be holding hers. She then figured to give it another try. She pointed back out to the sea and turned to him.

"The sea."

She nodded and then pointed back to herself.

"You…"

He didn't know what else to say but she nodded again.

"You and the sea?"

She pursed her lips in a moment of thought before then pointing to him and then to his palace.

"Me and the palace?"

She was trying to convey that the palace was his home, as the sea was hers. After getting nowhere she decided to drop the subject. Each and every moment she longed for her voice. She longed to tell Eric that it was her that saved him that day and that she loved him so much.

"I'm really sorry about this," Eric said, scratching his head.

She merely took his hand again and shook her head sincerely. He gave a smile to her forgiveness.

"Shall we?" he then said.

She nodded and they continued their walk. They reached the stairs and headed back up to the balcony.

"Would you like me to take you back to your room?"

She shook her head 'no', which actually surprised Eric since he was expecting the opposite. Ariel then took his hand once again and they both stared at each other for a moment.

"You want to stay out here a little longer?"

She nodded quickly. Actually that was what Eric had wanted. He longed to stay with her just a little longer; he still had to tell her how he felt.

As a veil of silence fell over them Eric's mind went back to when she had started to cry. He really wished he knew what was causing it. Ariel shifted beside him and that was when he felt that she was still holding his hand. He looked down to their interlocked hands for a moment and felt that this was the right time to tell her how he felt.

"…Ariel?"

She turned to him and he turned to her, taking her other hand in his in the process. The action made her cheeks tint slightly and she looked up to see him giving her a sincere expression.

"I know we've only known each other for a couple of days…but you see I have to tell you something."

Ariel felt her heart starting to beat faster at his words and at how he was looking at her.

"…I love you."

Immediately she froze, her breath hitched, and she lost all train of thoughts.

_Did he just…_

Then her tears started to flow down her face, all her emotions surfacing at once. If it weren't for her sudden bright smile and the fact that she threw herself against him, he would have thought the tears he was seeing not to be of the happy kind.

Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her and reveled in every second of it; he had longed to hold her like this.

"I take it you love me too, huh?" he joked with a quick laugh.

He felt her nod her head quickly and he smiled again; thankful that she had felt the same way about him.

And so for a while he just stood there, cradling her in his arms as he swayed gently back in forth in the night's breeze. Eventually, Ariel pulled away enough to look up at him. Her face had streaks of tears falling down but she was smiling beautifully up at him and he returned her smile.

Eric released one of his arms from around her and brought his hand to her face where he held her cheek as he gazed into her eyes. He heart started pounding once again as he started to bend down towards her. She closed her eyes and felt him place his lips over hers. She was more than elated to finally be sharing a kiss with her Prince.

The moment their lips met, Ariel felt a warm feeling in her throat that traveled throughout her body and down to her legs. Immediately, her mind remembered the spell and she knew right then that it had been broken. However, her mind was too enthralled with the moment to think about anything else except that her dream was coming true.

When she didn't break the kiss Eric took the notion and deepened it with her, enjoying it just as much as she was. Her lips were so soft it was hard for him to resist! It felt so right to him and all thoughts of his mysterious rescuer were completely gone. He had made the right decision when he chose Ariel.

They broke for a moment before he captured her lips once again and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her as close as he could to him and she put her arms around his neck. After a few more kisses were shared the broke apart slowly and started at each other in pure bliss.

It was then that Ariel's mind flew back to the spell. Was what she had felt true? Was it really broken?

Did her voice return to her?

Subconsciously, the hand that she had resting on Eric's shoulder went to her throat where she looked down in quiet thought. Part of her was afraid to try it out. She was afraid for what Eric would say if she suddenly could talk!

"Ariel?"

She felt him put his hand to her chin and direct her eyes up to meet his.

"Are you okay?"

She stared at him for a moment before giving a bright smile out once again and a nod.

"We should be getting back now," he said softly. "Here, I'll take you to your room."

With that he took her hand and they headed back inside and up to the top floor where both their rooms were located. Ariel was lost in thought as he led her through the castle. She was overwhelmed with happiness that her Prince loved her back and she worried that he wouldn't if she could suddenly talk. She just didn't want to scare or confuse him. What should she do?! But then again she didn't even know if she could talk.

Eric suddenly stopped when he felt Ariel stop and give his hand a tug.

"Ariel?" he turned back to her in question?

It was now or never. She had to talk if she could, and she had to know!

"…"

He continued to look at her in confusion.

"Ariel…are you sure everything is okay?" he asked gently, taking her into his arms.

"…Eric."

**Oh I know, I'm evil!!! Please read and review. To be honest I am more of a writer of One Shots but I am really considering turning this into a two or more if I can get the ideas flowing; and mind you I have one but I need to make it make sense. As always PLEASE REVIEW!!! I'll try and get the next one up (if it is to be) ASAP. I'm not a fan of keeping readers on the edge for very long. It's finals week coming up at college but I usually write stories first and then worry about studying (my parents would kill me if they heard me say that).**


	2. Rollercoaster

**Hello hello again everyone! First off, wow! What can I say about all the wonderful reviews I received from all of you! I said it before I'll say it again, this chapter is because of you! And I was very challenged when writing this so I do hope that you all enjoy. Do have to admit it was a fun test for me! Enjoy and God Bless.**

**Special thanks to ****projecktrevolution20, J, xJadeRainx, disneyqueen, xAshbellax, kutlessgurl90, Sparkly-Vampire-Wannabe ****(for the scary yet hopefully kidding but good review) and**** Converse r life**** (quite a fun-to-read review) (n_-) for all the inspiring words and encouragement. **

Ever since Eric was little he would sneak out of his room at night to explore the palace from a different and darker perspective. Why did it seem so much cooler and scarier at night? Much like many of the things in the world. One thing he did also note is that there seemed to be a million strange sounds that came from seemingly nowhere; sounds that never surfaced in the daytime.

Was that what just happened? It had to be, because the alternative was impossible. There was just no way she just spoke; just said his name.

And so he just continued to stare at her for a moment. For her, she couldn't believe it either, though she was more informed on the situation than he was. Yes, her voice had indeed returned. She should have been elated! Eric just announced his love for her a moment before and now she had her voice back, she had beat the sea witch at her own game. Now she could tell Eric everything she had longed to! But there was a problem: now she could tell Eric everything she had longed to.

Suddenly she just had a voice again. How would he react? Well at the moment he was just staring at her with a slightly hung jaw. She looked away from him for a moment and her hand went back to her throat. She finally had her voice again but she didn't want to use it; or for a better explanation, she was afraid to.

Her eyes went back to meet his when she felt him place his warm hands on her arms reassuringly.

"…Ariel?"

For a moment they just stood there staring at one another.

"…d-…did you just..?" he couldn't form the sentence together, much less finish it.

_Did she really just say my name?_

Ariel was being tossed back and forth in her head with what to do. She looked away from him again.

_What should I do?!_

The moment started to get to her a little and she felt her eyes actually starting to tear up and that was when she just lost it.

"Oh Eric!" she cried out and looked at him to see that he looked as though she had just smacked him in the face. "I'm so sorry! I wanted to tell you!"

Eric took a subconscious step back away from her for a moment. Misinterpreting the action, she buried her face in her hands, turned on her heels, and ran down the dark hallway, the cloak he gave her slipping off her shoulders and falling to the floor.. The moment she had disappeared into the darkness he snapped from his shock.

"…w-wait…"

He then picked up the cloak and started after her.

"Ariel, wait!"

Was he dreaming? No. She spoke; there was no doubt in his mind now. How? Was she pretending all this time?

He continued to run into the darkness, only catching glimpses of what was just in front of him when he passed the moonlit windows aligning the corridor.

No, that didn't sound right to him. He also remembered how she just reacted. She was crying, but about what? And why did she apologize to him? In the back of his mind, though, he was noting that she had a very pretty voice; seemed very fitting for her. But he was wondering if he had heard that voice before somewhere. Why did it seem so familiar?

Bringing his mind back to the situation at hand he pushed the thoughts out of the way for a moment. He needed to find her and make sure she was okay; not to mention he was hoping she wasn't upset because of something he had done.

As he ran he continued to look into open rooms, hoping he would find her soon. Part of him was starting to get worried after a while of getting no sign of her. He was sure that he was faster than the girl and that he would have caught up to her by now.

He finally came to a stop when he reached the end of the hallway, breathing a little heavily as he leaned up against the wall for a moment. Where could she have gone? She wouldn't have left the palace would she? The more he thought about it the more he started to scare himself with the endless questions. He pushed off the wall and continued his search throughout the castle.

Ariel had found herself lost in the palace. She had actually crouched down in one of the hallways as she tried to dry her tears. She reached up and once again started to wipe at her eyes; the sleeve of her nightgown was now slightly soaked. She looked up at the many pictures that lined the hallway walls. Pictures of random faces she had never seen before.

"…I'm so sorry Eric…I'm so sorry."

Her soft voice echoed slightly into the silence.

"…what do I do?"

Her mind started to wonder to what she could do now. She had beat the sea witch and got her voice back, plus she would now remain human. But a part of her was wondering if Eric still loved her. His reaction, she thought, was one of rejection and fear; was he looking at her like a stranger now? So, perhaps, the sea witch had won in the process. If Eric rejected her now, she would have to stay up in the human world, lost and alone, and never to see her family again.

The thoughts brought tears back to her eyes and she wiped at them again. Then she slowly got up to her feet and started walking, why, she did not know. She walked up a flight of stairs and found herself once again on the hallway that her room was located. She felt it was the only place she could go at the moment so she started for it only to stop when she noticed a door that was slightly opened with the moonlight creeping into the hallway.

Needless to say, her curious side won and she headed up to the door and pushed it open slightly to see that it was Eric's room. She had always found herself wondering what his room did look like, and so she wouldn't have been able to resist if she wanted to. She walked in and looked around in awe at the size of the room. It was massive, about twice the size of her room. His bed was tucked in the middle right side of the room against the wall, covered in blue satin sheets and perhaps one too many pillows against the head rest. His room also had a fireplace that was opposite the bed. There were various dressers that lined up on both sides of the fireplace. She then looked up to see that a giant portrait above the fireplace. In it, Eric was dressed in royal garb, as he was crouched down on one knee and beside him was Max. Behind him then, Ariel noticed a woman and a man, who were also dressed royally, who each had a hand on one of his shoulders.

"…could those be his parents?" she wondered.

After starting at the painting a moment longer, she turned away and began to explore other parts of his room.

Eric was starting to become very worried. He was sure that by now an hour had passed since she disappeared he had done a complete search through the palace by now. He was sure that he had down quite a few actually. He gave a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. Walking back upstairs he came to her room where the door was closed. With hope that she would be in there, he knocked a few times.

"Ariel?"

He pushed the door open slowly after not getting any word from her, which he mused about a little bit, still in awe that she could speak. He did a quick glance about the room and let out another heavy sigh when he found she wasn't in there either.

Slowly, he shut the door behind him and happened to glance over to see that his room door was open down the hall. A spark of hope came to him and he hurried down to his room. When he turned and looked in he saw finally found her.

She stood in the middle of his room, framed by the moonlight of his satin curtains that were gently being fluttered around by the night's gentle breeze. And like he came to find once again, she looked absolutely breathtaking to him. He walked in slowly and gently closed the door behind him. She must have been very lost in whatever thoughts she was having as she did not stir when the door made a small noise when it shut.

"Ariel?" he said quietly.

At this she gave jump and turned around, her hair flaring about her.

"Eric," the name left her before she could stop.

At this, at hearing her say his name again he paused and took it in; finally for good. She could speak. His Ariel could speak.

Once again, a small wave of silence fell over them and she felt her eyes growing wet again.

"Oh Eric…I'm so sorry! I wanted to tell you…I wanted to tell you everything…I was so scared that you hated me I just ran away and…"

Before she could finish the sentence she found herself wrapped tightly in Eric's arms, her face buried into his chest.

Was this really happening? He was holding her?

"Ariel," his voice was soft and gentle. "I love you."

She paused, hearing the words that destroyed all her fears and questions. At this he pulled away slightly and looked down at her tear stricken face.

"This is so wonderful Ariel!" he then said happily. "Your voice came back…you can talk!" he let out a laugh and gave her a loving smile.

"I'm so sorry for running away back there," she said and buried her face into his shoulder.

He smiled and took it in. He wasn't dreaming. His Ariel could speak! He had to keep mentally pinching himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He looked back down at her when he felt her pull back a little from him to see her looking up at him with a heart-stopping smile.

"Eric…"  
She took a deep breath and let it out before finally telling him the one thing she had been longing to tell him the moment she laid eyes on him.

"I love you so much, I've wanted to say that to you for so long…I love you!"

He felt butterflies form in his stomach at her words and he had to admit he had longed to hear her say those choice words to him for so long it seemed!

A huge grin took over his face and he reached a hand up and held her cheek. Ariel had long since closed her eyes before Eric bent down and kissed her deeply. He brought her closer to him as she ran a hand through his thick black waves. When they broke apart they were both smiling to each other and he bent down and touched his forehead to hers. He had finally found true happiness, for he had longed to be with someone like this…someone like her.

He reached down and took her hand in his.

"Come on…I think some sleep would do us both some good."

She gave him a smile and let him lead her back to her room. Once he stepped into her room he surprised her when he lifted her off her feet and spun her around, her laughter filling the room. He held her across his arms as he carried her to her bed where he gently laid her down.

"Why thank you," she giggled.

Eric smiled at the comment and kissed her forehead before bending to one knee beside her, once again taking her hands in his.

"Ariel…there's so much I want to ask you…but that can wait for tomorrow…get some rest and I'll see you in the morning."

With that, he leaned forward and captured her lips once more, holding it for a little while, before pulling back slowly.

"I love you," she said softly.

"I love you too Ariel. Good night."

He gave her a quick kiss to the forehead when he got up and left her room, giving her a quick smile before shutting the door behind him. She let out a sigh of pure elation and fell back into her pillows. All her dreams had come true! He loved her like she knew he would. Her happiness faltered a bit, however, when she remembered his last words. There was a lot he wanted to ask her…and she knew that meant he would ask her where she was from.

One task led her down a trail to another. Now she had to make the decision of whether she would tell him she as a mermaid or not. And then her mind flew back to her family. Would she ever see them again now? All these bombarding questions momentarily took away her current happiness of the night. Also, she knew she had to tell Eric that she was the one who saved him that day

So the question was, how was she going to do this? And how was he going to react?

If what she was going through wasn't hard enough…little did she know, Ursula was far from giving up.

**So there you go! I do hope you like it guys! Now's it's time for me to wait nervously! Keep those reviews coming though guys because they keep these chapters coming! God Bless!!!**


	3. Leaps

**It's done! Ahhh!!! Oh man I made you all wait SO LONG. I'm sorry about that. History and Meteorology final studying was so time consuming but oh well, even after I said that I did writing first. Bah! Anyway here's the new installment so I once again hope it is to your liking and expectations. Please read and review! God bless!**

**Special thanks to projektrevolution20, xJadeRainx, kutlessgurl90, xAshbellax, Converse r life (LONG but great!), Mermaid Raven, Mel, and Anna Marie Raven for your awesome reviews!!! Thanks so much guys! It is for you that I continue! (n_n)**

With her mind being as troubled as it was the night before, Ariel was surprised to find that she actually did fall asleep, and she actually got a great nights sleep. She had slept all the way through and wondered what time it was when she did finally glance out her windows to see that the sun had moved a fairly decent amount up into the sky. Her mind then shot back to why she was troubled but those thoughts were pushed back for the moment when she reminded why she was so ecstatic.

Her head shot to the door when she heard a light tapping beyond it.

"Come in," she said with hope that it was Eric.

Her prayers were answered when Eric opened the door slowly, giving her a bright smile, before he stepped in and closed the door.

"Eric," she smiled happily and opened her arms out to him.

He quickly headed over, sat on the bed, and pulled her against him, reveling in the warmth she brought. He then pulled back and grinned when she enthusiastically cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. The first kiss was a short one but Eric quickly recaptured her lips and leaned into her until her back was to the bed.

They broke the kiss for air and Eric placed his forehead to hers.

"Good morning."

She hugged him to her and her hand played with the hair at the bottom of his neck and she giggled when he tickled her neck with a kiss.

"Ariel," he said pulling back to look at her. "Like I said last night there is so much I want to ask you."

At this she frowned a little, knowing full well what would happen, but quickly covered it up so he wouldn't think anything of it.

"So can you join me for a walk after breakfast?"

There was no way around it, she knew. It would have to be taken care of sooner or later. So she gave a nod.

"Okay."

At her answer he kissed her again.

"I just hope Carlotta and Grimsby don't freak out when I talk to them," she then said seriously.

He brushed a few strands of her fiery hair away from her face.

"It'll be okay. If you want I can go talk to them about it right now?"

She looked down in thought for a moment before looking up and giving him a nod.

"Okay. And I can tell them about what's going on with us," he smiled.

She smiled back and received one last kiss from him before he slipped out to leave her to get ready for the day.

He headed down the long staircase and into the massive ballroom before finally reached the large doors leading into the dining room. Seated at the chair on the right of his at the end was Grim, who was in the middle of lighting his pipe like usual. He happened to glance and see him coming in.

"Well…good morning, Eric," he rose and greeted him with a slight bow. "Beautiful morning."

Eric grinned a little. It certainly was. Really how was he going to start this conversation? Before he could start, if he was going to, Carlotta came in and hurried him over to his chair.

"Morning Carlotta," he smiled to his housekeeper.

"Good morning, Eric," she smiled and playfully ruffled his hair. "How are we this morning?"

"Good good," he laughed and started to straighten his hair.

"Oh I'll be back. I'm sure Ariel would like to join us as well."

"Wait Carlotta," Eric said, standing up. "…about Ariel."

She finished running the fork through her hair and did a twirl as the simple blue dress fell about her. She decided to leave the bow off this time. It was too annoying really.

"Ariel…we need to tell your fadder."

She gave a heavy sigh to the comment from her friend. She had just gotten over a major debriefing session with Sebastian after he regained his ability to talk and hold his jaw up upon finding out that she could speak again.

"Oh Sebastian…" she let the sentence trail off with a huff, as she really didn't have a comeback to that comment. "Can we please talk about this after I get back from walking with Eric?"

"Ariel…I tink it would be much bedder if we talk about dis as soon as possible."

She let out another sigh before turning back to her small friend.

"Right after. I promise," she said before giving him a kiss and then frolicking happily out of the room.

Sebastian swallowed heavily and reluctantly followed after her. Part of him was thinking about how her father would take the news and the other half of him was worried about the Sea Witch. He knew from experience she wasn't one to just give up after things don't go according to her first plan.

Ariel hurried down the large staircase that led into the ballroom before hurrying through and opening the large doors to the dining room. She was met with the sight of Eric talking to both Carlotta and Grim, who both looked to be in complete shock as Eric talked.

He trailed off when he saw her approaching and he smiled, getting one from her as well. At his expression change, both Carlotta and Grim turned and Carlotta lost it.

"Dear…is it all true?" she rushed up to Ariel. "Did your voice really come back? …And you and Eric?"

"Oh Carlotta," Ariel spoke the words with laughter and love before taking the plump housekeeper into a hug.

Grim gasped at hearing the sound of her voice for the first time while Carlotta was bursting with joy. She hugged her back with enthusiasm, a little too much as Ariel found she was having just a little trouble breathing.

"Oh Ariel this is so wonderful!" she said upon releasing her.

Ariel beamed.

"Carlotta, thank you for everything you've done for me when I first got here. Really."

The woman found tears forming to her kind words but pushed them aside.

"It's no problem at all Deary! Now you just sit yourself down and I'll have breakfast right out!"

With that, she hurried off towards the kitchen. Ariel then turned to Grimsby.

"Sorry about the pipe incident earlier," she gave him an apologetic smile.

He continued to stare for a moment before he shook it off and gave her a smile back.

"Oh my dear, think nothing of it. I believe we all got a good laugh out of it."

She blushed a little but continued to smile nonetheless. She then felt an arm around her waist and turned to see Eric giving her a smile. Smiling back, she let him lead her to her chair, where he pulled it out for her.

"Thank you," she said politely, suppressing a giggle.

His grin got wider before he seated himself, Grimsby joining them shortly after.

Breakfast went by quickly. Well, Eric purposely ate fast so that he could excuse himself with Ariel to their walk. Leading her out the large doors to the balcony, they headed down the large steps that walked right onto the shores of the surrounding ocean shores. They walked in silence for a while, just reveling in the calming ocean breeze with the peaceful sound of the lapping waters. Ariel then broke away from him and pulled up her dress, walking into the warming waters of her past home.

"The ocean is so wonderful…don't you think, Eric?"

He smiled, removing his boots, and joined her.

"I do…I could tell that you did as well," he smiled.

She gave a mute nod. They walked until they reached the end of the shores and Ariel glanced up and gave a quick gasp of remembrance and surprise to see a familiar setting. The place where she sang to her Prince after rescuing him from the storm that nearly claimed his life. After a few more moments of staring, she turned to him to see him staring as well, an unreadable expression upon his face.

"You know," he started. "Something interesting happened to me a few days before I met you."

At this, he walked out of the water and onto the very spot where she sang to him.

"You see it was my 19th birthday and I went out sailing with Grim and a few of the sailors from town."

He then gave a laugh and ran a hand through his hair.

"But there came a huge storm that we didn't see coming. It was horrible really. The whole ship was destroyed and I was cast out into the sea. I was unconscious at the time so I should have died."

He turned back to her.

"But someone rescued me…it was a girl. When I came to she was sitting over me. And she was singing in the most beautiful voice I had ever heard."

Ariel watched as he retold the story of their first meeting. She wanted to tell him it was her but she also found herself right back at the seemingly same problem when she wondered if she should speak to him or not when she got her voice back. Undecided of how to act, she remained silent and continued to listen.

"To be honest…I was going to marry her. At the time I felt I owed her my life…but she disappeared."

He paused for a moment.

"I searched for her every day, every chance I could but she was nowhere to be found…then I met you, Ariel."

He smiled and looked back over to her.

"At first I thought you were her…that's why I asked you if we had met before."

He fell silent yet again, in remembrance that Ariel had nodded yes to that answer, but he pushed that aside and continued.

"I was so sure that you were her but found out I was wrong when you couldn't speak. But actually I'm glad in a way that I didn't find her because I was able to get to know you for the person you really are."

She returned his smile, but at the back of her mind she was frowning in confliction.

"…but…Eric you said I wasn't the one only because I couldn't speak…right?"

Her mind had shut off. It was now her heart running the show and controlling her actions and words. He turned back to her at the comment.

"What was that?"

"But I do have a voice Eric."

He faced her fully then, completely confused by what she was saying.

"Eric…do you still love her though?"

He headed up to her and put his arms on her shoulders in concern.

"…Ariel is everything okay?"

"Do you still love her?"

He gave her a reassuring smile

"I don't Ariel. I promise you that. It's true that I do owe that woman my life…but she never came back to claim it. But regardless of that fact, I've fallen for you Ariel."

To show he meant every word, he dipped down and captured her lips in a tender kiss. He frowned a bit, when he noticed that she still wasn't giving him much of a smile when they broke apart.

"…what if they're the same person?"

He replayed the comment in his head for a moment.

"What?"

She was staring to confuse him greatly by now.

"…do you remember the song, Eric?"

"Ariel…I--"

"Part of your world."

The last sentence made him stop, his breath hitch.

"How did you—"

He was cut off when she then started to sing to him. Immediately, his hands fell from their places on her arms. The voice that had haunted him, taunted him, for the last week was flowing all around him, making him relive the moment he was rescued. Even if he wanted to say something at that moment he wouldn't have been able to. He just continued to watch her as she sang the familiar song in the, oh, so familiar voice.

"…Part of your world," she sang out the end.

It was then that she finally brought herself to turn back and face him, as she had turned away from him at one point.

"Ariel," he breathed out the name in exasperation. "…it…"

"Yes, Eric. It was me. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner. I was scared of how you would react," she said softly.

After staring at her in silence for what felt like an eternity to Ariel, he finally moved. He started to let out bits of air in smile-less laughs before his face bore a smile. Then he put his hands on her waist and spun her around in the air.

"Ariel this is so wonderful!" he exclaimed. "Oh my God this is incredible! You're her…Ariel you're her!"

He continued to spin her, finally getting her to smile back as their laughter filled the air. He set her down finally and, of course, wasted no time in kissing her. He wrapped his arms firmly around her, one around her waist and the other on his back, and he pressed her as close to him as he could.

Not only had he fallen in love with a girl that had a magical and glowing radiance and personality, it also turned out to be the girl that saved his life! He was on cloud nine.

Ariel happily returned his kiss and cupped his face in her hands. After sharing many kisses, the happy couple broke away but still held each other close.

"This only adds about a million more questions I have for you now," he said with a laugh.

She inwardly frowned at the statement. He then gave a laugh to a thought.

"So how did you manage to save me from out in the middle of the ocean when you can't even swim?"

Even though he meant the statement as more of a joke, he noticed that she then frowned deeply and stepped slowly out of his embrace.

"…Ariel I didn't mean that in a mean way," he then said quickly.

Ariel found herself standing that the cliffs once again, deciding against another leap of faith. Each time had been a positive turnout but this one was the one she had been dreading the most and for the longest of times. She couldn't lie about it, it was the truth and it was who she was. Also, a part of her knew that it would come to the surface at some point and would need to be explained.

Suddenly, she found herself with a very heavy burden, and along with it, she found herself with many things she had to deal with. God knows what her father was going through at the moment with her disappearance, and on top of that, if she ever hoped to see her family again she would have to tell him eventually. Then she had to figure out some way to tell him that she was permanently a human, not to mention the fact that she **was **a human at the moment. Then she had to explain all of this to Eric and then hope that he wouldn't think of her as some kind of freak!

She took in a deep breath as it all swam about her before she exhaled and once again chose to leap off that dreadful cliff.

"Eric…I'm a mermaid."

**Woo! Done with another one. Darn me and my cliffhangers! Just letting everyone know I am on break for a month so that means I do have more time for this story. However, I have come to find that my break is already looking busy and not to mention this next chapter is currently refusing to let itself be written : ( …The story is getting more and more interesting and with that more challenging to write but I'm sure I'll manage. Thanks for sticking with me guys. Read and review and God Bless!**


	4. Exposed

**Happy New Year everyone! This chapter is late but thankfully it's finally up = really hard to write!!!! I hope you all enjoy! As always please Review!! God Bless!!!**

**Special thanks to xJadeRainx, MermaidRaven, xAshbellax, JippyJars, projektrevolution20, blueyblonde, toons27, Whiteling, kutlessgurl90, Converse r life, and KittenCeez for all the awesome reviews!!! Glad to see some new faces come upon the story as well. (n_n)**

He had probably heard her wrong. I mean, the ocean was right beside them both and it was rather loud at the moment with the waves crashing. She watched him carefully, looking for a reaction or something but he remained emotionless.

"Ariel?"

"That's how I was able to save you. …I'm a mermaid, Eric."

It wasn't the ocean. He had heard her correctly, and she had once again left him at a loss for words. Unlike the last two times, this one he wasn't ready to burst with joy. He was confused, and there was nothing he could do at the moment except to stare at her.

"…Ariel is everything okay?" he walked towards her.

She didn't know what to say and he wasn't reacting to her statement just yet so she waited a little more. He paused when he saw that she had continued to be silent while she looked at him.

"Why would you say that?" he finally gave her something.

She bit her bottom lip but decided to keep pushing this forward.

"I'm serious," she then said sternly, though she had to bite back a nervous shudder.

Ariel had completely changed from the joyful, warm character that he knew to a serious persona that he honestly wondered if she could do.

"Please believe me Eric."

He would have laughed it off if she hadn't looked so serious about it.

"Ariel that's ridiculous," he smiled to soften his words.

He was starting to worry about her now. Ariel had to admit that she wanted to run now and cry, just like she always seemed to do when confrontation had come around. But she refused. She had to make him understand who she really was.

And she had to know if he would still love and accept her.

And so she was not going to run away scared this time. She was going to stand firm in her beliefs and defend her true self and heritage no matter how reluctant or fearful of the consequences she was. And if he truly loved her, he would accept her no matter which form she took, or what past she had hidden from him.

"It's not ridiculous Eric, it's who I am. Why do you think I constantly asked you what things were, or what they did? I had no clue because I'm not from here!" she finished in exasperation.

He once again found himself staring at her; it was all he could do. Seeing his silence once again, she continued.

"And when you found me on the beach, I couldn't walk remember! I had just become human and—"

"How is that even possible Ariel," Eric blurted out.

She stopped in a little surprise that he actually said something.

"It's a long story."  
She searched in her mind where it was that she should begin this story.

"After I saved you I wanted to be with you Eric. I had fallen in love with you and I couldn't stop thinking about you that I went to the sea witch."

"Sea witch?" he said in confusion. "Ariel this is all way too bizarre," he went up to her and took her hands in his in fear of how she was acting.

She shook her head softly.

"Eric, please listen," she gave his hands a reassuring squeeze. "She told me that she would make me human for three days. The deal was that I needed to get you to love me back and in order for that to happen I would need you to kiss me. However this all came with a price. In order for me to become human I had to give her my voice. That's why I could talk after you kissed me for the first time," she finished, looking up at him.

As much as he was concerned for the tale that his girlfriend was weaving, he was now starting to become more afraid of how valid it was starting to become. It had brought up so many of the questions he had kept to himself and at the same time it was giving them answers and they seemed to make sense but at the same time there was just no way that any of this could be true. There was no such thing as magic and definitely not mermaids!

"Ariel!"

Both her and Eric turned to see Sebastian running up to them from out of the water.

"Wait…did that crab just talk?" Eric exclaimed.

"Sebastian…what are you doing?"

She was referring to why he would talk in front of Eric and why he looked so panic-stricken.

"Your fadder is coming to get you right now!"

She gasped and looked out to see before looking back at him.

"What…now?" she exclaimed. "How does he know I'm up here!" "Please forgive me child. But something bad has happened and he needed to know where you were," he said apologetically.

"What's happened?" she asked in fear.

"Ariel!"

She turned around to see a more than shocked Eric.

"What is going on…that crab is talking…and it knows your name?" he finished in question.

"….."

Really what could she say, her world was starting to spiral about her madly. First she had yet to convince Eric that her words were true, then Sebastian just came running up from her home and spoke in front of a now even more confused Eric, and now she learned that her father knew where she was and that she was human of all things! And her heart was fearful of what had happened while she was absent. Yes, she had every right, and then some, to be speechless.

Well she didn't have to remain that way for long, as soon she turned her glance back out over the water and her breath hitched when she saw her father surface.

The moment he laid eyes on his daughter he was sure his heart had stopped. Everything Sebastian had told him was true. Had he really hurt her to the point where she would turn to his nemesis for help instead of him? There she stood before him on land, with legs! Upon swimming closer he then laid eyes on Eric and he got angry and perhaps even a bit fearful for his daughter.

"Ariel get away from him!" he said and raised his trident.

Sebastian had explained that she had done all this for a human that she had fallen in love with, though honestly he couldn't know which human that was could he? And he wasn't about to assume when the life of his daughter could be in jeopardy.

"No Father!" Ariel jumped in front of Eric with her arms raised in defense.

He immediately lowered his trident in confusion of his daughter's actions.

"That's Eric, Your Majesty," Sebastian, who had swam back out to Triton, explained quickly.

Needless to say that by now, Eric was completely lost and in a barrage of confusion.

"Father? Ariel?" Eric turned to her, silently asking for answers.

She turned back to him to see that his face bore a million questions into her and she bit her bottom lip before turning back to her father. Triton now had come closer. Ariel let out a deep breath and started to wade out to him.

"…Ariel, wait," Eric took a few steps towards her but stopped short.

Ariel ignored him and continued to wade out until she was waist deep, staring at her father face to face. And for a moment that is the only thing the two of them did.

Triton looked at his daughter as she stood before him, a human. She had always been adventurous and full of rebellion he knew that. But he never came close to imagining that she would go this far. The daughter that he loved so dear was standing before him now in a form of the very creatures he despised with all his heart since the day they took his beloved wife from him.

"What's happened?"

Her question brought him back. It was hard to answer her question when he had a million of his own for her at the moment. Also, he was doing his best to bite back his anger and frustration.

"Arista has gone missing."

"What?" she exclaimed, taking a subconscious step back. "When…how long?"

"It's only been a day Ariel, calm down," he said with assurance. "But now it's time for—"

"Can you change me back?" she cut him off, finishing what he was going to ask of her.

She just continued to surprise him.

"What?" it was his turn to ask the question.

"I'm coming with you...we need to find her…" she said sternly.

Though he saw she was stern, he also noticed that she was putting on a brave face and she was biting back a nervous shudder; question was what for? Did she really love this human that much that she was afraid to leave him like this?

"…yes…I can," he nodded and then rose his trident up before swimming back a ways from his youngest and then pointing it at her. This got Eric a little uneasy, as he still really had no clue who that man was except that it might be her father.

"Ariel!" he shouted.

She turned around to see the questioning face once again.

"…Eric," she whispered.

At the moment she never felt so distanced and torn but she knew what she had to do. Gripping herself for the change, she closed her eyes and waited.

She soon felt a warmth envelope her, lifting her out of the water and casting her in a golden light.

"…what the…" Eric gaped at the sight.

She soon felt her legs pull towards each other followed by the absence of her dress on her skin. With the fade of the light came the end of her transformation. Eric could only gape at the spectacle before him.

There she was, suspended in air momentarily, her green scales glinting in the sunlight as her abundant red hair flared about her.

Simply put to him, she was absolutely gorgeous. With a flick of her tail she leaped up before diving down into the waves she had abandoned for the last three days.

Ariel reveled in it as the feeling of being in her real home wrapped itself around her. The water flowed about her and hugged her skin with familiarity and warmth. A smile fell upon her face and she let out a giggle before breaking the surface with a jump, again causing Eric to simply stare in disbelief of what he was seeing.

Her moment of happiness was soon forgotten when she remembered the reason why she was back, and she also thought of how Eric was taking all of this.

She resurfaced, and looked back at shore to see Eric just staring at her. Seeing her daughter and the human in the eye lock, Triton figured it was best to get her back home as soon as he could.

"Let's go Ariel."

She looked back at her father for a moment, then back to Eric.

"…Eric," she said, not shouting, but loud enough for him to hear. "…I'm so sorry."

His eyes went wide for a moment at her comment.

She felt as though all of her fears had finally been realized. Ariel felt as though he had rejected her upon finally seeing the truth that she was indeed a mermaid. What really tore her was that they had a connection that she knew was the only one of its kind. She knew that he was the only one for her and now to be losing him was devastating. The moment she dipped below the waves it was over for both of them, and she would never see him again, as well as the surface world altogether.

The thoughts and realization of the consequences of her actions caused her eyes to tear up and two tears slowly slipped down her cheeks. She felt her heart freeze as she finally turned away from Eric for the last time. The moment before she dove below the surface, the calling of her name stopped her instantly.

Turning around, she was hit with the sight of Eric kicking off his boots and running through the water towards her. Without hesitation she dove under the water, causing him to stop when he was chest-deep. He was afraid that she had left in fear of his sudden actions but those thoughts were denied when she suddenly resurfaced in front of him. He wasted no time.

"…I'm sorry."

His abrupt statement made her pause and just stare at him.

"…for not believe you Ariel…I'm so sorry!" he said as sincerely as he could.

Truly he did feel awful. He felt as though he had hurt her and caused her to feel as though he hated her for whom she really was but he needed her to understand that this couldn't have been further from the truth.

All she did was stare at him, and really who could blame her? In just one statement from him, he falsified all of her fears. Finally, her tears, that she had been trying to hold back and put on a strong front, came out. Slowly, her eyes filled with tears before they slowly started to spill over.

Seeing her distress, Eric closed the distance between them and quickly and securely took her into his arms. She immediately welcomed the comfort as all the things that were weighing her down disappeared.

Triton watched in a mixture of surprise and disbelief of what he was seeing. This human was showing such love towards his daughter…regardless of the fact that he now knew she was a mermaid?

"…Eric," Ariel said quietly, pulling back to see him but staying in his embrace. "I need to go back home for a while. My oldest sister has gone missing and I need to help find her."

He only gave her a blank stare.

"Eric?" she said carefully, putting her hand to his cheek.

"Oh…I'm sorry," he stammered. "It's just that I'm still trying to adjust to all this."

After what seemed like an eternity to him, he finally saw her give him a smile, and with it a giggle, and he smiled as well.

"That's okay…I'll tell you about it later."

"Ariel," her father cleared his voice behind them.

She looked down a moment before turning back to him.

"Okay, Father. I'm coming."

With that, Triton dove beneath the waves and Ariel returned her attention back to him.

"That's your father, huh?"

She nodded mutely.

"Yep, he's King Triton, ruler of the seven seas," she added with an inward giggle to herself, though Eric was a bit shocked.

"King…Triton…he's real!" he then exclaimed.

"Wait…you've heard of him?" Ariel stared at him quizzically.

"The sailors talk about him all the time…but they say it's just a legend."

She gave a laugh at the statement.

"...I see. He'd get a real kick out of that."

She then grew serious again.

"I better go," she said softly.

He put his forehead to hers.

"Okay…how long will you be gone?"

There was a dilemma. Her father had indeed changed her back, but would he be willing to turn her human again when Arista was found? Figuring that enough was happening at the moment, she decided to keep that in the dark for now.

"I'm not sure…I guess until we find my sister."

He nodded mutely but she could tell he didn't want her to go, even if it was for five minutes; which she was truly thankful for.

"Could you visit me sometime?"

His question made her happier than he would know.

"Really?" she smiled brightly.

"Really?" he repeated with a laugh. "Of course!" he then lifted her around her waist and spun her up and out of the water for a moment, their laughter mixing with the sounds of the ocean.

When she was back in the water he captured her lips in a kiss. He would never know how happy he had made her with his actions and the fact that he still loved her.

"Now," he had a playful smile on face. "…I do believe I've said this before, but I have a million questions for you when I see you."

She beamed at him and kissed him quickly.

"And I'll have a million answers!" she giggled.

That comment of his no longer carried any weight of distress with it. Finally everything was out in the open about who she was and he took it all in and accepted her regardless.

"Meet me here tonight at sunset," she told him. "I'll be over there behind the rocks," she pointed to the collection of rocks beyond the place where she had rescued him.

He nodded and wasted no time in kissing her soundly. Like always, he hugged her as close as he could and she wrapped an arm around his neck and rested the other on his shoulder. They broke the kiss slowly and rested their foreheads together for a moment.

"I love you," he whispered.

"Love you too."

With that she swam back and kicked her fin before doing a graceful dive into the ocean.

In that form she truly was beautiful to him and he was going to let her know that when he saw her again. Now he had the fun of going back and explaining everything to Carlotta and Grim but decided that it was best to keep this a secret from the kingdom for now, and possibly for good. He figured she wanted it to be kept that way also for she had him meet her at night behind rocks; pretty good hint there as well.

As her happiness and giggles subsided from her moment with Eric she grew serious as she caught up with her father on her way back home.

Home…she was really going back there. But it wasn't a homecoming occasion. Not to mention she was still in the dark with how her father was really feeling about everything that she had done.

"Ariel…we will talk later about this," he broke the silence then with a stern tone. "For now get something to eat and rest. I'll talk with you a little later."

"Yes Father," she ducked her head a little.

To be honest, she had expected him to explode with rage…and actually half of her expected him to blast Eric on the spot with the trident. So what kept him from doing that? Also, he was being nicer than usual to her considering all that she had done. I mean really…hello? She had gone to the sea witch and became human! That should have been more than enough to have him get so angry a new volcano would appear on the map! Counting her blessings she was grateful and kept it at that.

After a while she looked up ahead to finally spot Atlantica shimmering in the distance, just as she left it. She knew that things had become more difficult and she was not home for a vacation by any means, but it was still nice to be back.

**Sweet, done. Happy to announce that I have a fairly good idea now of where I want this to go so hopefully the chapters will come along faster than this one. It was really challenging! Anyway please keep those awesome reviews coming and hope you like it.**


	5. Calm Before The Storm

**Before you all join together and kill me for the wait, let me explain myself. Had a lot of family/personal matters to attend to over break plus I had an internship I had to set up and interview for but I got it! Yay! Back at school again, oh boy. Also my computer was in need of repairs. I managed to type this out with a somewhat broken spacebar and v key but the replacements are coming by Friday, yay! Again, I'm so sorry for the delay! **

**Special thanks to **xJadeRainx, KittenCeez, MermaidRaven, Whiteling, Converse r life, xAshbellax, Daniella24 (thanks for you're numerous review and welcome!), kutlessgurl90, and LemcCharStar4ever (also welcome!)

The entire way back to Atlantica with her father was in a heavy silence. He bid her goodbye after escorting her to her room and reminded her that he was going to talk to her later on after she rested a bit. Once her door was shut behind her, her eyes fell upon her room. She swam over and gently floated down until she was sitting on her bed, a soft sigh escaping her. She glanced around her room before falling back fully onto her bed, resting her eyes for a moment as her mind flew through everything that had happened. Her head fell to the side and her eyes fell upon a small pink shell laying on her bedside. She picked it up and looked it over for a moment.

"Mother…I could really use you right now."

The shell was the only thing she had left of her mother and she remembered the day she got it while she was out for a swim with her mother. Her mother had given it to her then and told her it was from her mother and that she wanted her to have it.

She sat up with a heavy sigh. She wished she was still with her, for she wanted to talk to her now more than ever about what was going on in her life. Sure, her father was great, but things like this just needed a motherly touch.

Her quiet moment was soon long gone as the flat rock, which served as her door, was suddenly slid open and five mermaids tackled her to her bed.

"ARIEL!" their voices shouted in unison.

Almost as quickly as her sisters had tackled her, she was released and staring back at them, trying to gather herself enough to shake off the sudden attack.

"Don't ever do that again!" Attina was the first to speak.

"We were scared to death! You just disappeared!" Aquata said with concern.

"Yeah and then we found out from Sebastian you were human and that you had gone to Ursula," Alana shook her head in disbelief.

"We couldn't believe it!" Andrina finished.

She looked to each of them quickly before giving a small smile and shrugging her shoulders.

"…sorry?"

"SORRY!" they exclaimed to her small apology.

She swam up and started to edge away from her sisters.

"You've got a lot more to say then just sorry, young lady," Aquata folded her arms.

"Yeah," Adella added. "And we're gonna hear all about it."

She frowned at the statement and knew what that meant and she was not too interested in having her sisters pick her to pieces until she told them everything.

"But first," Aquata swam up in front of Ariel, as if to protect her from them. "You should rest. We need to get back to searching for Arista."

At the mention of her missing sister's name, Ariel saddened a bit.

"What happened to her?"

They all looked down at the question.

"We're not too sure ourselves, Ariel," Aquata started. "This morning we woke up and she was just gone, leaving no trace as to where she could have gone."

A veil of silence fell over them for a moment before Aquata spoke

"All right. You get some rest Ariel. We'll be back later."

One by one they left her room until she was alone once again. She swam out to her balcony and leaned on the edge, staring out past Atlantica's waters.

Arista wasn't the smartest of her sisters but she wasn't dumb. What could have happened to her? Was she kidnapped? Well, she was a princess so someone could be looking for money, it was very possible, but if they were, why her in particular? Thinking about it, Ariel thought that if that were the case, it would have been smarter to take Attina since she was the next in line to take the throne.

Or, did she wander off somewhere and get lost or hurt. The thought was unsettling to Ariel, but it wasn't impossible. Arista had confessed once that she was envious of Ariel's adventures that she had been on in the past.

Could she have gone out searching for her? This was also possible since they had only been told of where she was this morning, also the same time of her disappearance. Another thought that crept in her mind was Ursula. She could have been seeking revenge for Ariel having bested her at her own game and getting Eric to fall in love with her, also keeping her voice. All of the ideas were bad, but she hoped that Ursula didn't have her sister by far.

With all the possibilities giving her a slight headache, she decided that rest was indeed something she wanted at the moment.

* * *

Happily tucked away deep in the ocean's wastelands, Ursula lay in her chambers, a smile adorning her lips at her recent accomplishment. Arista looked down-trodden as she lay in the cage that hung up by Ursula's potion cabinet.

Arista gave a sigh and shifted uncomfortably against the bars of the cage that was almost too small to hold her. It had been a whole day and she still hadn't seen or heard any word that showed signs that help was coming. She tucked her red tail up to her body and rested her chin on it.

"Sorry my dear," Ursula's voice sounded from her dark cave on the other side of the room. "But I ran out of blankets and pillows so that'll have to do."

She had grown truly tired of the witch's jokes. Like most people who find themselves in trouble, Arista started to wish she had been more careful before slipping out at night to see the coral reefs that surrounded the kingdom. It was just a nice way to get out and away from the world. She had made it a tradition and she would leave every night at the same time. Well, upon being caught by a few of Ursula's minions, she realized that there was nothing kidnappers liked more than commuters. People who are at the same place everyday at the same time; makes that job a heck of a lot easier.

But why now? Well that question was also answered. Apparently her sister had beaten the sea witch at something and she needed to take her now in order to get her father to hand over his trident. What probed her mind was that Ursula had told her all about what her littlest sister had done. Was it true to become human! And then went to the surface where she had fallen in love with one, no less?

A pang of emotions fell over the young mermaid as she buried her face in her tail. She wanted nothing more than to go home.

* * *

She awoke to the sound of a light tapping at her door.

"Uh…come in," she said sitting up, stretching while wiping the sleep off her face.

"Ariel," came her father's voice followed by him entering her room.

Upon seeing her father, she tensed up a bit. He swam over and sat down at the edge of her bed, placing his trident down on her floor.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

What? Did she ever say she didn't feel better?

"Umm…I guess so?" she some-what shrugged.

"Ariel…I guess I just want to know why?"

He was so straightforward and so sudden with the question that she was caught off guard for a moment and simply stared. She swallowed hard and adverted her eyes.

She knew her reasons, it was love and it was returned to her so she had risked everything and was rewarded so much more. She also knew her father's temper and that her answer would certainly light it.

"Father I want you to promise me you won't yell."

She said it firmly, she stood her ground. He studied her for a moment and gave her a mute nod.

"I love him. I have from the moment I saw him…and he loved me back, Daddy."

The answer surely did trouble him. She did all of this for a human! He wanted to shout, he wanted to scream, throw something, hit something, blast something. She watched as he clenched his teeth together and she subconsciously scooted away from him. He caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and he paused.

"And it was also because of you too, Daddy," she finished in a whisper.

He was sure his heart had skipped a beat for a moment. He searched her expression clearly before he looked away, he couldn't help it. His daughter was scared of him…**his daughter was scared of him.** He couldn't take that. He knew that his temper was bad, but had it really been bad enough that she did all that she did? He went back in his mind to how he had taken the news. He blew up her human items and then blew up her statue and he remembered leaving her in tears. Did those things really mean that much to her? She was left feeling small, tattered, and broken. In all respect, he had abandoned her when he did that.

"How **could** you love him?"

The statement had left him without him really realizing it. She watched him carefully, and approached him like an unstable volcano.

"I can't choose who captures my heart. It just happens."

Her statement was so adult that his head snapped up to look at her, as though in a new light. And it was then that he was struck with the fact that she wasn't so little anymore. She had grown. True 16 was by no means grown up, but somehow her absence had changed her completely. And for a split second, he felt he was looking and talking to his wife. True, she looked exactly like his Athena, but now she was starting to carry herself just like her. And Athena was someone he admired more than anyone.

"I'm going to meet him tonight at sunset."

It wasn't a question, she wasn't asking for permission. He slowly reached down and picked up his trident before slowly swimming over to her door. He couldn't think straight right now. She had surprised him completely and perhaps he even surprised himself. Well he did with his answer at least.

"Be careful…and don't stay too late."

With that, he swam out and her stone door fell back into place. She stared, mouth agape, at everything he just said and did. Not once did he yell at her, scold her. And did he just say she could go see him…a human? Her father?!

She slowly reached up and pinched her left cheek and flinched to the small painful sensation before falling back on her bed…nope.

Not a dream.

* * *

Her day dragged on, she went and got some food before heading back to her room to just do some thinking; this time about her lost sister. Almost as soon as she began to think about that, a vision of Ursula flashed in her mind. Absentmindedly she clenched her fists. She had no doubt in her mind that she was the reason behind this.

And we all know Ariel. (**A/N**: nod your head 'yes'.)

So what she decided to do next we can't really be surprised and we probably saw it coming. She swam out her room window and made sure that she wasn't seen as she made her way to Ursula's lair.

Slowly, the waters grew darker regardless that the sun was shining so brightly above. After a while of swimming, she came upon the familiar and dreadful sight. Large volcanoes covered the floor of the black and dismal area. She swam low to avoid being seen and had to slowly and carefully make sure to not swim over any open spots of hot water. The entire area was so unstable and dangerous she wondered how anyone could live there at all.

Once she reached the entrance she saw the disgusting creatures that covered the floor and she made sure to be more cautious and swim up higher. A loud laugh caught her attention; it was definitely Ursula's. She couldn't just swim into her lair now considering she knew she was there. Looking up, she saw rays of light in the darkness and could only assume that they were windows or openings of some sort. Swimming up she found her hypothesis to be correct. She had a full aerial view of her lair and saw some of her tentacles hanging out over the sides of the cave that kept her concealed from the world. Slowly scanning about she gave a loud gasp when her eyes fell on her sister who was trapped in a cage, not very far from her at all. She covered her mouth to keep her from making any more loud noises.

She was washed over in fear, relief and a million other emotions upon seeing her sister. She was relieved to see she was safe, but scared to know if Ursula had done anything to her. She had a full-blown knowledge of the different types of magic spells and powers the sea witch possessed. Looking back at her sister she swallowed hard. Now what should she do?

* * *

Eric paced about his room, a million thoughts going through his head. Ariel was a mermaid…Ariel. Was. A. Mermaid. Her father was THEE King Triton…she was even a princess! He sat down on the edge of his bed and placed his head in his hands. Max came bounding up to him and sat at his feet. Eric's hand left his head and he ruffled his hair and gave out a sigh. How was this even possible! Getting back up, he headed out to his balcony and looked out over the ocean. Ariel was out there somewhere but she was fine…she was at home.

"I hope she's okay."

She should be right? She's as home. Home…the ocean. There he went again. It hurt his head to think about all of it.

Even with all that had happened, he did manage to be somewhat productive. The thought caused him to look back over to his nightstand, where a small ring sat inside of a small velvet box.

* * *

Again, we know Ariel. (**A/N:** (nod))

Instead of going to get help she was bent on solving this now. After all, there might not be enough time to swim back and get help. Who knew what plans Ursula had for her sister. She slowly swam forward enough to catch a glimpse of the sleeping witch, again only able to see her shadowed face and motionless figure. So she was only assuming she was asleep, she really had no clue.

Arista was in her usual position, tail curled up close as she rested her arms around it, her head on top. She caught a flash of red out of the corner of her eye to see Ariel…ARIEL?!

She was supposed to be a human…and she hadn't seen her since she left…what the hell was she doing there? (pardon the lang.) Though she wanted to scream in surprise, Arista knew her situation called for none of that. She did as Ariel had done and covered her mouth to avoid the notion. As she did that, Ariel had also placed a finger over her mouth. Arista nodded and they both stared at each other for a moment, just taking in the fact that they were indeed seeing each other for real. Ariel then started to look at the lock that kept her sister in her small prison.

After taking that in, she began to look all about her for anything that looked like it might be able to get rid of the lock. Her eyes almost immediately fell upon the witch's potion cabinet. She glanced over at the sea witch before she finally swam into the lair and then slowly down to the cabinet. She had experienced first hand the powers of the potions she saw before her. Though she had no idea what they did but she did know they could do some pretty incredible things. She looked over each of them in curiosity, some were solid colors, others had creepy things crawling in them. Yuck.

She grabbed two vials of the solid colored potions, one blue and one green. She then swam up to Arista and held them up to her with a curious shrug. Arista bit her thumbnail and looked back down at the witch before looking back at Ariel in uncertainty.

Before they could sit and think over it any longer, Ursula coughed and it startled Ariel who turned to look at her, causing her to throw he potions into each other. A small explosion resulted from this, and then the potion leaked down onto the lock but thankfully the combined concoction melted the entire side of the cage, not just the lock.

However, the explosion had caused Ursula to stir. After seeing this, Ariel wasted no time in grabbing Arista's hand and pulling her out of the cage before quickly heading out of the window she came from.

Not too long after they escaped, they heard the witch let out a rather unpleasant shout to find her captive was gone. They then heard her called to her two slimy eels to "get them!"

When she heard that, Ariel quickly dove down and dragged Arista with her, as they hid in the shadows of a few rocks with the volcanic water blurring them from being spotted overhead.

"Ariel…I can't—"

"Shhh," Ariel whispered, placing her mouth over hers.

They both peered around the rock to see the eels were slowly looking over the area. Then, much to their discomfort, they saw that Ursula was now there as well.

They didn't have any choice. If they stayed there any longer they would certainly be found. Knowing that Arista would be completely against he action, she just did it.

All at once, she yanked her sister backwards and began swimming for all that she as worth. Catching on, Arista also began to kick her tail as fast as she could. They were both startled some-what when they caught an explosion to the left of them and knew that Ursula had brought some potions with her for the occasion.

"Just keep swimming!" Ariel shouted.

The explosions continued, and at times they barely dodged them. Soon, they explosions ceased completely and they turned to see that they had lost the eels and the sea witch. Arista started to slow down but a swift tug of Ariel's arm kept her going.

"No…we can't stop till we get back to Atlantica!"

Arista was tired but she knew her littlest sister was right.

Upon reaching Atlantica, they finally stopped and both floated to the sandy bottom as they tried to catch their breath.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ariel returned to her room after reuniting her sister to her family and the kingdom embraced the happy news but Ariel wasn't too excited. She knew now that something bad was indeed about to happen. It was way too easy and Ursula just gave up.

Ariel had explained everything to her father and he immediately addressed the kingdom to be on watch for anything suspicious. Also, he had put total security on all of Atlantica. Nobody was able to go outside the perimeter of the city and nobody was being let in either without extensive checking.

Ariel saw that it was drawing nearer to her meeting with Eric, and she had talked to her father about going up there even with all that had happened and he continued to surprise her to no end when he still agreed but he had told her he was sending guards to watch her the entire time. Seriously though, what had happened to him? He wasn't acting like the father she knew. But was she complaining…on no. Not in the slightest.

She really needed to find someway to bolt her door shut. Just like when she first got home, all of her sisters…all of them. Now that sounded good to her. Well anyway, all of her sisters burst into her room and surrounded her on all sides, mischief apparent in their eyes. She had explained everything to all of them and received all the praise and the chew out sessions for having rescued Arista…so what did they want now?

"Time for you to spill it out, Ariel," Adella said.

Oh no.

"Yep. We want to hear everything about this human," Alana finished.

"Umm…" she let out a small laugh before making a quick break for her open window, only to be captured by all of her sisters.

"Oh no you don't!" Aquata laughed.

They dragged her from her room and into their dressing room (one with the mirrors from the movie.) She was released and slowly floated down to sit on one of the raised up chairs, completely surrounded by her sisters.

"What's with you guys!" Ariel shouted in protest and anger.

"Talk," Arista pointed a finger at her sternly. "I've already been told everything up to this point and…quite frankly I'm freaked out…but now I want to know who this human is that caused all of this!"

She bit her lower lip as she looked to each of them.

"…fine," she huffed, seeing as there was no way out except to tell them everything.

She started by telling them about her days as human and how he had fallen in love with her and how she had fallen love with him.

"But he's human…how can he be cute?" Adella questioned.

Ariel shot him a look.

"He's gorgeous."

She made a face at the comment.

"Eric sounds hot," said Arista dreamily.

This time Ariel made a face.

"Keep it to yourself."

She frowned at her.

"What's he look like then?" asked Andrina.

At this, they saw their youngest sister fall into a dreamy state of her own.

"He's so strong an built…his black hair is so soft and he's a really good ki—"

She let the sentence trail off because she knew the consequences of that statement but she stopped too late.

"Oooo Ariel! Good kisser huh?" Alana teased.

She turned a huge shade of pink. Attina rolled her eyes at her sisters.

"No fair… I haven't even gotten my first kiss yet!" pouted Adella. "And then my youngest sister goes off and gets hers plus a handsome prince."

"That's because you're such a ditz, Adella," Andrina smiled.

"I dare you to say that again," she edged her on.

"Enough children," Attina put her hands up.

They both huffed and turned away from each other.

"So when do we meet him?" Aquata asked eagerly.

"M-Meet him?" Ariel repeated. "Never!" she sat up.

They all turned to her with smiles.

"Oh yes Ariel. We have to make sure he's good enough for you, after all," Arista said the last statement with a roll of her hand.

"I know he is!" she exclaimed.

"We think you're too young to know that yet," Alana added.

"Yeah, and you don't even know what love is," Adella snickered a little.

She was starting to get furious.

"I'm not a little kid you guys!"

At this they all smiled and shared a laugh.

"Actually," Attina smiled gently at her. "That's exactly what you are, Ariel."

She pouted at her oldest sister's remark. She then glanced up to the surface out the window. It was time to meet Eric. She got up and swam to the door. Turning around, she cast a death glare to all of them.

"I'm going to meet Eric. Stay here!"

She headed off to find guards to escort her like she promised her father. Her sisters turned to each other and the evil smile that Alana was wearing soon made its way onto each of their faces.

"I think that she just invited us to go to, don't you think girls?"

At this they all nodded.

"That's exactly what I heard," said Adella.

**Uh oh…poor Ariel just can't seem to catch a break! Next chapter will be up soon because it's my specialty to write Ariel/Eric moments!**


	6. Giggles, Sisters, and Undying Love

**Yay a semi-quick update! Like I said this was an easy chapter to write because it's my cup of tea folks! We are nearing the grand finale of my first full story for the Little Mermaid, yays again! Thank you all for your continued patience. I'm so thankful. God Bless!!**

**Special thanks to **brdwygrl15 (welcome!), projektrevolution20, toons27, xJadeRainx, Daydreamer747 (welcome!), kutlessgurl90, Converse r life, and JippyJars. **You guys all rock! Enjoy!!!**

After finding two guards to escort her, Ariel swam as fast as she could to the surface and ultimately, the guards had a hard time keeping up with her. She broke the surface with them shortly following. She then turned back to them with a serious face.

"Stay below the water," she put her finger up.

They both hesitated.

"You're Highness, His Majesty specifically—"

"Told you to escort me. Not spy."

They both looked to one another in hesitation.

"Now!" she scolded.

"Yes, Your Highness!" they both quickly bowed before diving under.

She let out a sigh and looked over at the setting sun with a smile, finally a real one too. She swam over to the large grouping of rocks that were their meeting place. She pulled herself up onto the flat-topped one with ease and stretched herself out with an outtake of breath before smiling as she watched the sun continue to dip below the horizon.

"Simply beautiful."

His voice startled her slightly and she turned around with a broad smile to see Eric wading through the water to get to her.

"Eric!" she exclaimed.

Instead of waiting for him to get to her she dove beneath the waves and surfaced in front him and startled him into a hug. He welcomed it, placing both his arms around her and firmly pressing her to himself. Her arms wrapped around his neck. Pulling back, she gave him a radiant smile.

"It is," she said referring to his statement about the sunset.

He laughed and pressed his forehead to hers.

"I was talking about you."

She blushed but soon forgot her embarrassment when he pressed his lips firmly to hers. She swooned in his arms, wrapping hers around his neck once again, trailing a hand through his thick black waves. She felt him smile as he deepened the kiss, both elated to finally be back together.

However, a third party had joined in the fun below them.

"You're Highnesses—" the two guards that were with Ariel started.

"You guys are supposed to protect us," Alana started. "So just hush and stay down here…or else."

They both swallowed hard and gave shaky nods. Along with those two guards, each princess also had brought another with them, Daddy's orders. The same command was issued to each of them before they all swam around them to be met with the sight of their youngest sister's tail and the legs of a human.

"That must be him," Arista said, both in wonder and excitement.

True they were all a little scared to meet a human face to face, but Ariel was in love with this particular one. Needless to say, their curiosity overrode the fear and hesitation.

They broke the kiss, though many had been shared and just stared at each other in wonder. A smile formed on Ariel's face and he actually felt himself blush at the beauty that shown whenever she did smile that brilliant smile she had. His hands fell down and found a place upon her waist and she felt a shiver to have him touch her bare skin.

"We found my sister!" she said happily.

He smiled.

"That's great! Is she okay?"

Ariel nodded.

"The sea witch had taken her…really just like I thought. But she's fine."

Eric gave a frown to the mention of that sea witch again, but quickly covered it up. They were together for now and they both just wanted it to be as carefree and happy as possible.

Without much warning, his hands that were resting upon Ariel's waist started moving and he was rewarded with a surprised giggle from her.

"Hmm…ticklish?" he rose a brow at her.

"A-Am not!" she stammered.

"Oh…okay."

A moment of silence passed over them.

"Not even if I do this?" he pulled her close and began to tickle her relentlessly.

"Eric!" she shouted as she squirmed out of his grasp and swam back a little from him.

Her sisters watched on in amusement.

"He's tickling her," said Aquata.

"You think?" Andrina said and pushed some of them aside to get a better view.

Aquata turned to her with a frown.

"Yeah I do…stop pushing, you're too fat."

"Really girls?" Attina broke up the quarrel, once again.

They both did the signature 'huff and turn' from each other.

"Well I don't know about you guys," Adella then said, but I want to see what's going on above the surface."

With that, she swam over to a pattern of rocks that were to the side of where Ariel was, that didn't go up as high out of the water= a perfect place for spying.

"Ooo, me first!" Arista said upon the discovery of the new spy point.

Slowly but surely, six little heads popped out of the water to see that Ariel and Eric were by the grouping of rocks. Ariel had her back resting up against one of the large ones and Eric was leaning into her but they weren't kissing, they were talking.

"What are they saying?" Aquata whispered, a bit too loud, but not enough to stir Ariel and Eric out of their moment.

"Geez Aquata shut up," Alana elbowed her. "You're too loud."

Aquata looked at her.

"You too, sweetheart."

Attina shook them head with a roll of her eyes but decided to just continue watching her youngest sister.

"How about you both shut up so we can all maybe hear what they're talking about?" Alana turned to both of them.

Knowing she was right, they both fell silent.

"So what do you do down there?" he asked with a raised brow.

"We swim."

He merely stared at her as she just smiled back at him with a joking face.

"Oh…okay. I was under the impression it was fun and cool to be a mermaid."

She softly hit him.

"Well if you're gonna be like that," she laughed a little. "I do a lot of exploring and things like that."

"Things like that?"

"Oh…you know what I mean."

"No, Ariel. Actually I have no clue," he smiled playfully to her.

She put her hands on her hips.

"Come to think of it…what I do is none of your business mister!" she laughed and poked his nose.

He laughed and then kissed her nose in response.

"I think I have a right to know what my girlfriend is up to."

She blushed at the term. It sounded great to hear it coming from him. Back on the sidelines, Ariel's sisters were trying to catch a glimpse of the Italian prince.

"Geez, I wish he would turn around!" Adella hissed.

"You're the most impatient person I've ever met, Adella," Andrina said, putting her hand on her head and dunking her.

She came back up with a stern frown.

"You're one to talk," she started. "For the last five minutes you've been like "When is he gonna turn around! This isn't any fun!" and "We should move closer to get a better view!" It's driving us all nuts."

"If I hear one more quarrel from any of you we are going home," Attina stepped in again. "You're grown mermaids. Act like it."

They both ducked their heads to their oldest sister, knowing her words were true.

When they turned around, Ariel and Eric had now started to bring water into the play fight. Ariel flicked a bit at Eric and he brought his hands to his chest and shoved a huge wave onto her. She giggled before diving under and he laughed.

"You know, this really isn't fair! You have the home field advantage, Ariel!"

He then felt a tug on his legs before Ariel pulled them out from under him. He fell under the water and focuses his eyes on Ariel to see her giggling in front of him. The next thing that struck him was how truly beautiful she looked to him. He was seeing her for her, in her natural form and in her home. Her scales glinted off the moon's rays through the water and her abundant red hair floated about her, making her look almost angelic.

His reverie was cut short by his lack of air before he shot up to the surface and moved until his feet found the ground so he could stand once more. She popped up soon after and giggled once again when he stepped over to her and pulled her close to him, looking down at her with infinite wonder. He then put his hand to her face and her smile slowly faded and she stared up at him with wonder as well. He started to move her and she soon found her back gently placed up against the large rock. In his eyes she found nothing but love. Both happening at the same time, her hands went around his neck and one of his hands he placed on the rock to support himself and the other cradled her head before he kissed her deeply. She sighed into him, her hands roaming through his soft wet hair and his hand traveling down and going to her back where he pressed her firmly into his kiss.

He broke it before kissing a trail from her lips down to her neck where his breath and touch sent shivers down her spine. She had now cradled his head in her hands as he continued to kiss her neck. The moment was pure bliss for both of them…so it was only natural that it was broken by a loud scream.

"TOTAL MAKE-OUT SESSION!"

They both jumped and turned to see six faces peering at them from behind the rocks. Eric looked beyond confused but Ariel's face flushed a brilliant shade of red; she could have blended in with her hair. Now she was blushing from pure embarrassment and…oh yeah.

That was a bit of anger.

Immediately, she was out of Eric's embrace, facing them fully, fists clenched to her sides.

"Oh way to go, Adella," Andrina started clapping. "You're really smooth."

"What are you guys doing here!" Ariel shouted.

"Well I guess we mine as well stop hiding girls," Attina sighed at her sister's outburst.

One by one, they dove under before resurfacing in front of…Eric? Wait…what?

And so it was. Eric found himself face to face with six young mermaids, staring at him in wonder, curiosity, and some expressions he couldn't read. Some of them had their mouths agape while others looked as though they were studying him like a specimen in a laboratory.

"Umm…hi?" he put his hand up. "…Ariel?" he looked to her for answers to who these ladies were.

"They're my sisters," she seethed through her teeth. "And I'm going to hurt all of them for spying on me!"

"Seven?" he repeated in surprise. "You have seven sisters?"

This broke the veil of silence that had fallen over her staring sisters.

"He's so handsome!" Adella burst out.

"Oh geez you're ridiculous tonight, Adella," Andrina put her hand over her face. "You might want to try seaweed taping your mouth shut."

"What's his name?" Arista swam up closer to him, causing all of them to move closer.

"It's Eric," Ariel continued to boil with anger.

"Hmm…pretty cute name," Alana said to herself.

All at once, they started to explore with their hands. Some of them messed with his hair, others with his ears and nose.

"Umm…ladies?" he then said, causing them to move back and stare at him. "Hi…it's nice to meet you," he extended his hand.

They stared at his hand and they all giggled a little but Attina put her hand in his.

"Eric…nice to meet you. I'm Attina. I have to say it's great to meet a human that's different from all the others."

He broke from his quiet state of semi-shock and put his hand in hers with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too," he smiled.

They went down the line, each introducing themselves with a handshake until he got to Adella, who merely laughed at his notion for a handshake.

"We hug in this family!" she said before taking him into a rather strong hug.

Actually, the action caused a bit of jealously to arise in Ariel. She was quick to hide it, though Aquata caught it with a smirk.

"Don't be jealous Ariel," she laughed.

Adella turned back to her youngest sister with an evil smile.

"Oh…are you jealous when do this?" she said, wrapping her arms around Eric's neck and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Umm..." Eric said in confusion.

Really, he was in quite a state of surprise with everything that was happening and how quickly it was.

"ADELLA!"

Before she could react, Ariel had tackled Adella away from Eric and they both disappeared beneath the waves. Once again, Attina put her hand to her face in embarrassment before turning back to Eric.

"So Eric."

Her voice caused him to look from where his girlfriend disappeared below the surface, to her.

"What do you think of our little sister?"

"Oh…she's amazing," his face lit-up somewhat at the question. "I really love her a lot."

The girls had to admit it was really nice to hear it coming from him, not to mention it was a love of a human for a mermaid and vice versa. Stuff like that…well you just don't hear about it a lot do ya?

"You been able to keep up with her?" Aquata laughed a little.

He laughed.

"I know what you mean. She can be quite a handful at times but I guess…well that's just what I love about her."

They all smiled warmly to the comment.

"Ariel!" Adella surfaced. "You've completely destroyed my hair!"

It was true. Her black hair was in a complete mess from its usually tidy ponytail.

"Well it serves you right!" Ariel said, pointing at her when she finally surfaced.

"Geez you're uptight! I was only joking."

She then turned to Eric.

"You should really dump her. She's too high strung for such a handsome guy. I'm available if you must know," she said, striking a flirty pose and batter her eyes at him.

Ariel glared daggers at her sister and Eric blushed a little.

"Adella…" Ariel's out-of-character cold voice said slowly.

"Adella…I think enough is enough now," Attina once again intervened.

She merely shrugged her shoulders and started to fix her hair back up. Seeing that all had calmed down, Ariel swam over to Eric where he put his arm around her waist. Once again, the sisters smiled to the notion.

"You guys really are cute," Andrina said with a sigh.

Eric smiled and looked down at Ariel.

"Thanks. We think so too."

Ariel looked up at him with a tinge of pink on her cheeks and gave his nose a flick with a giggle.

"You enjoy doing that," his smile got bigger.

"It's kid-love," Adella then laughed. "Ariel's still too young to even kiss right."

"Geez, Adella," Aquata shook her head.

"Kid love?" Ariel repeated hotly. "Adella you've never even had a boyfriend…or kissed anyone."

Her comment struck a cord with.

"Oh you think so?" she shot back.

"I know so…and for your information…"

She broke out of Eric's embrace and turned to him cupping his face in her hands before crashing her lips to his. He stumbled back from the sudden gesture before he quickly caught in to her intentions and smiled through their kiss. He had been surprised all night, so now it was his turn to play a game to the surprisers.

One by one, their mouths fell open and they stood gaping at how bold their youngest sister was.

Eric's arms securely wrapped themselves around her body and her hands cradled his head as they, if possible, deepened the kiss. In front of their audience they shared many, each just as passionate as before. When they finally broke their last kiss, they both smiled breathlessly to each other before turning to take in the reactions…which were all mostly similar.

Very still, surprise still plastered to their faces, and mouths still hung open.

"You're gonna get plankton stuck in your mouths if you keep them open any longer," Ariel teased.  
Eric inwardly laughed at the strange language that Ariel's kind used and he gave her a quick squeeze.

"S-still kid love!" Adella shouted, clearly showing that the action did get to her. "Besides, we need to be getting back anyway!"

With that, she dove beneath the waves.

Attina laughed and reached over, giving her youngest a high five.

"Nicely done, Ariel."

Ariel merely smiled with pride.

"But she is right. We should be going now. Eric," she turned to him. "It was very nice meeting you.

"Yeah," the others nodded.

He smiled.

"It was a lot of fun."

Some of them laughed and waved to him before they slowly went down, until Attina was left.

"We'll wait for you. Don't take too long," she winked to her before also diving under.

Ariel let out a happy sigh and turned into Eric, wrapping him in a hug.

"Thanks for playing along," she giggled.

He gave her a squeeze.

"Who said I was playing."

He felt her smile as she buried her face into his chest.

"Sorry about the sudden visit too. I had no idea…but then again I should have know they were going to follow me."

"It's okay. They're a lot of fun."

"They are," she smiled with love for her sisters. "…but I should be going. I promised Daddy I wouldn't stay out too late."

At that moment she thought about why she did have that curfew. It was because of Ursula. She contemplated telling him about it but thought otherwise. The moment was too perfect and peaceful and she clearly wasn't in the mood.

He snapped her from her reverie when he dipped down and lifted her up into his arms, holding her bridal style. Her laughter echoed into the still night's air.

"Well my Princess," he gave her a smile. "I think it's time for you to scurry home to bed."

She laughed.

"Well my Prince, I think you're right."

In a flash, Ariel then tackled him into a hug that took them both under water. He focused his eyes on her and when he finally did, he realized that she was now kissing him. It was a strange sensation for him to be kissing underwater but by no means was he complaining. They slowly floated up until they were above water, but never breaking the kiss. His secure arms once again found their place around her small frame as her hands glided through her favorite soft black hair.

His mouth broke from hers and she gave a pout before she felt his lips on her neck. She gave a slight gasp of surprise at the notion before giggling when he some-what lifted her out of the water.

His lips trailed back up to claim her mouth once again. He needed this. He needed her. Every time she was close to him his heart sped up and he felt butterflies in his stomach. Her touch sent flames of passion over him and him and he shivered, purely amazed what she could do to him.

He loved her. He would do anything for her. Being with her like this was all he ever wanted…all he ever needed.

"Ariel," he breathed her name out through their kisses.

He felt her smile.

They broke the kiss slowly, staring into each other's eyes. Her face was flushed but she truly looked amazing, just like she always did to him.

"I love you so much," he finished his statement.

She smiled and let him take her into another hug.

"I love you too, Eric."

He swore, hearing those simple words from him was all he needed to live on. They slowly broke away from each other, and they then realized how much they needed each other, for they feel it was the hardest thing they had ever done. She flashed him one last brilliant smile before doing a graceful flip beneath the waves, with a promise to meet each other by sunset tomorrow.

**Yeah romance! I love ARIEL AND ERIC!!! Woot Woot! That was one of the best romances scenes I have ever written so I hope that you all like it! Read and Review as it brings me so much joy! God Bless! **


	7. The Beginning of the End

**I'll send my address out to all of you so you can come and kill me. I'm so sorry. School started up again and college golf has taken over my life! Not to mention stress sucks. This is all thanks to my roomie (who you know as projektrevolution20!) , because she got me thinking and broke my writer's block)**

**We've had a lot of new readers since last time and that just makes my day! A lot have added this as a favorite and that's so awesome! You guys rock seriously.**

**Special thanks to JippyJars, kutlessgurl90, barlowgirlfan16, xJadeRainx, projektrevolution20, xAshbellax, Team Guy of Gisborne, farah, Converse r life (you're story is getting so good!) toons27, brdwygrl15, Yuuki-Kuran of the Knight, deejaymcknight, Daniella24446, -BrambleChasing, and MermaidRaven. Bless you all!!!!**

**We're getting to the grand finale. After this I story is done I have a ton of one-shots for all of you to enjoy and hope to have them up quicker : S . Thanks guys!!! God Bless.**

She had slept rather well that night after having seen Eric, and how much he truly did love her, regardless for who she really was. All good things come to an end though, as she would find out numerous times when she was shaken out of her slumber that morning.

"Ariel!"

She moved away from the disturbance before she felt all her covers thrown off her. She blinked up at the intrusion to see it was all of her sisters. She was then harshly yanked up and dragged out of her room.

"What is going on!" she shouted.

Her world was spinning on account that she was still half asleep.

"It's Ursula," Attina said quickly.

"What?" that caused Ariel to stop and free her hand from Andrina's.

They turned back to her.

"Ariel please," Attina started. "We need to get to Father's throne room. We'll be safe there."

"What is going on!" she said harsher this time.

"We'll explain when we're safer!" Aquata grabbed her and they swam as fast as they could until they reached the throne room.

Their father was waiting for them and was relieved to see all of them there and that they were all safe… and that was when Ariel finally focused her hearing and other senses to her surroundings. The palace was shaking somewhat, and there were guards everywhere.

Also, it seemed as though all of Atlantica was in the throne room.

"What is this?" Ariel turned to her father.

"Ursula has somehow assembled an army," he said. "They've invaded the city."

"What?" she said in disbelief. "How could she get an army?"

"It's Ursula," Arista said. "Ariel, you know full well what she's capable of with her magic."

There came an explosion to the left of them and Ariel got a good look at the army that Ursula was talking about as they started to break down the palace walls. They seemed to be skeletal in appearance and looked to be human, as they had legs. They had very little skin on their bones and they looked truly terrifying really. (**A/N: **think of the zombie skeletons in Pirates of the Caribbean)

Triton fired his trident at them and made quick work of the small group of intruders before sending command to the army of his own.

"Surround the palace! Leave no opening unguarded!"

The guards scattered all over and out of sight.

"Girls," he then turned back to his daughters. "Stay close to me."

They huddled around him and some held each other to calm the fear of the situation.

There came another explosion and this time, it was Ursula who appeared.

"Why Triton!" she laughed. "How nice to see you again."

He gripped his trident in rage and shot a blast at her. A group of her minions swam up and took the blast full on, destroying them but keeping her safe.

"What is the meaning of this!" he bellowed.

She merely laughed and swam around as she spoke.

"Well you see…it's really a long story," she started. "And mind you it wasn't supposed to be this complicated at all."

At this, she shot Ariel a glance.

"I was planning to use Ariel to get you to surrender the trident and your kingdom but that plan backfired when she got that prince to kiss her."

Ariel looked to her father as she spoke but he showed no emotion but anger.

"And then I took Arista as one last attempt to have a ransom for you're kingdom but that damned daughter of yours just has to ruin everything!" she threw her hands up. "So now it's time for one last hoorah!"

They were suddenly swarmed and surrounded by literally hundreds of skeletal guards that surrounded them on all sides.

"You will lose this time Triton!" she shouted. "And this kingdom and all of the ocean will be mine!"

Triton started to fire his trident all about him but it seemed that for every one he destroyed, two replaced it. Where were they coming from?!

Aquata gave a scream and they all turned to her to see that she had been grabbed by some of them. Triton turned to free her but then soon found that they had all been grabbed by them.

"Give it up Triton!" she cackled. "Or risk losing your daughters!"

He looked to each of them in fear and complete loss for what to do. A look passed over his features that seemed to look like he was going to give in to her wishes. Seeing this, Ariel suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt.

All of this was because of her. If she hadn't gone after Eric, this wouldn't have ever happened and her family would be safe. A part of her regretted it, but another part of her knew she loved Eric and that it was worth it. So, she was going to fix this.

Triton's hand started to raise up, and Ariel knew he was about to hand over his trident. She made her move. It was if she was suddenly struck with energy and courage in an overwhelming wave. She did a quick head but to her captor and he released her in surprise. She then swam over and grabbed the trident.

"Ariel!" her father exclaimed.

"You want this…then come and get it!" she shouted.

She flicked her tail as hard as she could and swam out of the room, narrowly escaping the attempts at grabbing her from all angles it seemed.

"Get her!" Ursula shouted in anger.

She swam through room after room of her home in attempts to get out. Eventually she came to her room where she slammed the rock shut behind her to stall them while she gathered herself and formed a plan. She looked all about her frantically for any ideas but came up short. She gave a jump of surprise when she heard the rock starting to move, signaling that her time was short. She turned, and by chance, caught sight of the small pink shell her mother gave her. She held it for a moment and then took it with her before she swam out of her window

to see that none of Ursula's minions were outside of the palace, which was good for her.

One thing that you had to know about Ariel was that she was a very quick swimmer, and it had gotten her out of trouble and sticky situations more times than she cared to mention. She noticed they were starting to come after her and she did a quick dive down and swam into the tall patches of seaweed and kelp that hid her rather well.

She swam for a very long time, and she told herself not to stop until she couldn't go any further. She had no idea if she had lost them or not, but she wasn't going to risk stopping for a peak. She swam so far away that she couldn't even see Atlantica when she finally did reach a point where she needed rest. She swam down into a crevice of rocks that shielded her on all sides. She tucked the trident close and tried to catch her breath but at the same time she tried to keep her gasps for breath quiet. You should try this…it's very hard.

For a while she heard absolutely nothing but still kept wary in her actions when she swam slowly up to look over the rocks. She saw nothing except dark blue sea stretched out before her.

She was safe. That was good, but she also knew that she had left her family behind and that was the furthest thing from good at the same time. God knows what they were going through. The only good ray of hope out of this whole ordeal was that she had the trident.

She looked down at the pink shell in her hands and held it close to her.

"Mother," she whispered. "I'm so scared…and I don't know what to do!"

And really…what could she do? Sure she had the trident, but she had no idea how to use it! And something told her that it was only her father that could do that anyway. She gave out a sigh and looked up to see that suns rays poking through the water.

Eric.

She had nobody else to turn to right now but how could he help…he couldn't…he was a human. Regardless, she had no ideas and he was someone who could at least comfort her at the moment. Part of her felt selfish in thinking about having comfort at the moment when she had abandoned her family.

She shivered in thinking about what they could be going through and pushed the thoughts away. She only had one idea at the moment and that was to go see Eric.

Slowly, she swam up to once again check if the coast was clear, before she shot up to the surface. When she surfaced she found that it was foreign to her and that needed to try and retrace her way back to Eric's palace. She swam around for a while, but made sure to do it low to the surface of the water to make sure she wasn't seen. She began to lose hope until she came to a large island and the place seemed familiar to her. She traced along it's shores until she reached a large gather of rocks that she knew right away. Sure enough, beyond the rocks was that familiar palace.

Luck wasn't with her on a day like today, however she was quite fortunate to see her Prince sitting lazily on the beach staring out at sea. She called out to him and that was when the tears of her situation caught up with her. They flooded down her face and into her voice as she swam closer to him. He had long since spotted her and sprinted out to her in the waist deep shallows. In her hands he saw the long pronged golden staff but couldn't question her about it before she flung herself into his arms, burying her face into his shoulder as she cried.

The tale she weaved to him was quite the terrible one and he had a hard time taking it all in at the rate she was spilling it out. He really paid attention to her when she told him that her family was in terrible danger and he got a little angry when she mentioned it was that sea witch again.

He had heard so much about this individual and it really pissed him off at how much she continued to try and hurt Ariel and her family.

Her tears passed after a while and he held her close behind the rocks to make sure she would remain hidden. He rubbed her back to keep her breathing steady before he said anything.

"Eric I'm so scared. I don't know what to do!"

He really couldn't believe that any of this was happening. The worst part was that he couldn't help even if he wanted to. How could you help people you can't even get near to? Not to mention how can you comfort someone when you know you can't help…and when for once you really aren't too certain it will really 'be okay'?

And so for a while he remained silent and simply held her close. All moments come to an end. And quite frankly, she should have known that she couldn't escape from Ursula that easily. Ariel was suddenly ripped from Eric's grasp when a black tentacle wrapped around her waist and the next thing she knew, she was suspended out of the water, looking back at the sea witch who was holding her.

"Ariel!" Eric shouted, before he looked at the sea witch for the first time.

"Ah, Prince Eric. Nice to finally meet you," she mock bowed. "It's funny how much hell you've caused me and I haven't even seen you in person."

"Let her go!" he shouted.

"Now that I can't do. You see," she looked at Ariel. "This little brat has something of mine."

Ariel gripped the trident firmly and in fear.

"And I've come to collect," she finished.

A tentacle shot out towards her to take her father's possession. Without hesitation, she threw it to Eric, calling out his name.

"Little brat!" Ursula shouted in anger.

Eric watched in slow motion as the instrument flew towards him. He dove forward and grabbed it. The moment his hand touched it, the transformation began.

**Last cliff hanger! Hopefully. The next chapter will either be the last or second to last. And dangit I'm gonna try and be quick about it. God Bless you all for your patience!!! **


	8. A Mother's Gift

**Bam! I'm getting better at posting these quicker. This is getting exciting I know! And thank you all for continued readership! Though I must say that I am getting a little frustrated with people who are adding my story to their favorites and not posting reviews. That is telling me "I really like your story, just not enough to actually tell you I do." A review that even just says "Great story" is better than nothing!**

**Special thanks to **annmarie (welcome!), projektrevolution20, xJadeRainx, deejaymcknight, JippyJars, Converse r life, kutlessgurl90, toons27, treefrugger, Lucia Rayne (welcome!), MermaidRaven (thank you for your kind words and favorite adds!) Daydream747, Team Guy of Gisborne, and xAshbellax!

**You guys rock! Thank you for stickin' it out. We're on the home stretch now so stay tuned! Enjoy and God Bless!!! : D**

There came a bright flash when his hand clasped the golden object and he soon found himself enveloped in a blinding white light. Both Ariel and Ursula had to shield their eyes from the sharp concentration of light.

A million different feelings were coursing through Eric at the moment but he found it was mainly in his legs. He felt a pressure on the side of them that seemed to be pushing them towards each other.

As soon as all the feelings came to him, they were suddenly gone and he felt himself fall under the water. His first reaction was to kick his legs and in the process of his sudden panic he took in a huge amount of water.

Nothing happened the way it should have. One, he did not feel the movement of two legs kicking he felt the movement of one _thing_ kicking. And second, it felt as though he were breathing like he was above the water but his eyes clearly told him that he was still under the waves. He then looked down and gasped in pure shock to see a blue tail in place of his legs. Yes…seeing that it all made sense, but that doesn't mean that he didn't have the right to freak out. Seriously, what would you do?

"I can't believe this!" he shouted.

He was once again greeted with a surprise to hear himself clearly while under water and that it wasn't just a bunch of bubbles. There came a sudden splash and he soon found Ursula beneath the water, staring at him in total shock at his new form.

Ariel was completely thrown. She couldn't believe she was staring at her Prince as a merman. Mind you, she often found herself wondering what he would look like, but now was really not the time for fantasizing about it.

Bringing himself back to reality he turned to her and found himself to be pretty good at figuring out how to maneuver around as a merman. His eyes then fell upon Ariel to see she was staring at him in total shock. He then knew that he had to get her safe and he looked down at the trident in total loss. What the heck should he do now?

"Well I have to say…this is quite a turn of events!" Ursula said with irritation. "Can't say I saw this coming."

She then started to move towards him and he swam back from her in the process.

"Play time is over!" she shouted. "Give me the trident…or say goodbye to your precious girlfriend."

She raised the tentacle holding Ariel up to her neck and grasped it firmly. Ariel choked out a gasp and gripped at the tentacle that threatened to take her last breaths.

"No, Ariel!" he swam forward to be stopped right away by one of her other tentacles.

"Hand it over," she said expectantly. "And I'll let her go."

"No…Eric, don't," Ariel managed out. "She can't have that…"

"But Ariel…" he said desperately.

He stared in fear as she struggled and knew that he didn't have time to sit and think; who knows how much longer she would last. Ariel being Ariel…well she was a pretty quick thinker. In a swift movement, she shot her head down and firmly bit down on the tentacle and it loosened immediately. Taking her opportunity, she grabbed a seemingly dazed Eric and swam as hard as she could to get away. Thankfully, Eric snapped out of his trance and did the best he could to help them both get away faster by kicking his new fin. Sure, he was still very new to this, but he was doing a pretty good job.

They flew across the bottom of the ocean with Ursula right at their heels (A/N : haha…get it?). They were putting distance between themselves and her with their combined speed, but unless they ducked out and found a hiding spot, this would only result in them eventually tiring out and getting caught. Luckily for Eric, Ariel knew this world and she had a plan.

She suddenly shot down into a gathering of jagged rocks that somewhat sheltered them but not fully, to which is where Ariel's other plan came in. She started to kick her fin harder and lower, to where it started to kick up dust from the ocean floor and shroud them in a mist. From behind, they could hear the sea witch cough and wheeze as she inhaled the unwanted substances.

Eric then felt Ariel jerk them to the left and then suddenly he was going backwards. When he refocused his vision, he turned to see Ariel moving a large boulder out of the way before grabbing him and swimming into a cave-like area. The boulder fell in place behind them and then he turned to see her swimming up to the top of the cave and covering up a very small hole.

That was when he focused his eyes fully to his surroundings to see a vast amount of human objects all around him.

"Where are—"

Ariel swam down and covered his mouth and put her finger to her lips. From outside, they could hear Ursula muttering obscenities as she swam around them. They remained still and watched with their eyes where they heard her voice move about. Unlike the last couple of times, she didn't leave very soon. In fact, Eric was sure an hour or so had passed before they finally dropped their guard and let out a heavy breath of subtle relief.

It was at this time that Ariel could finally really look at Eric and take in the fact that he was there, with fins, in her world. He turned to catch her staring him over in silence and he looked himself over as well.

"I can't believe I'm really seeing you like this," she broke the silence, though still kept her voice down to be safe.

He had to admit he was just as shocked as she was. She then headed over to him and slowly took the trident from his hands and looked it over.

"No human has ever touched this before…I can't believe it had that effect on you though," she continued to voice her thoughts.

In the process of handing it back to him, her mother's pink shell fell from her hands and gently floated to the sand. On instinct, he picked it up and studied it for a moment.

"What's this?" he handed it back to her.

"My mother gave it to me before she died," she said slowly.

It was then that he realized that he had never really asked her about her mother. He had met her sisters and father but was pretty surprised to realize he never even gave a thought to why she hadn't mentioned her.

"Ariel, I'm sorry," he swam over and took her hand that held the shell.

She shook her head and gave him a smile.

"It's okay. You didn't know."

He then pulled her into an embrace, much to her happiness. Both had no idea what was going to happen now or how they were supposed to go about 'saving the day' so it was all they could do at the moment. She pulled back and gave the trident another glance.

"Eric we have to do something about this."

And so the time went by slowly where they shot ideas back and forth, none sounding too promising to either of them but they knew they didn't have a choice or that much time. They found their minds wandering and Eric's eyes did in the process.

"Where exactly are we?" he looked back at her.

Much to his surprise, and given the circumstances, she gave him a smile to the question.

"My grotto. I have a habit for exploring old shipwrecks outside of the kingdom. Whatever I find I bring back here and add it to my collection," she finished in a small giggle.

He looked on in amusement and amazement at how she found objects he used everyday like they were treasures.

"I always had so many questions I wanted to ask you humans," she said as she floated up and took a hold of a pearl necklace lying by an open jewelry box.

Being down here, even though he had already seen her underwater before, he was finally able to truly take in her beauty and radiance for who she truly was. She was oblivious to his stares of admiration of her as she looked over her treasures. Her hair floated about her as she slowly began to float back down to the floor. She let out a wistful sigh and turned back to him finally.

"But that has to wait," she said, growing serious. "Eric we need to get back to the palace somehow and get the trident to my father."

"Think it's safe?" he asked her as they slowly swam over to the entrance.

She gave a shrug.

"We don't have a choice…we just need to swim as hard as we can."

She gave out a heavy breath and turned to him.

"Ready?"

He nodded. She moved the boulder out of the way slowly and glanced around to find no signs of Ursula. She then turned back to him with a nod. The moment she released the boulder, they both streaked out, holding each others hands as they made a bee line for the palace as fast as they could. They made sure to swim through rocks or seaweed as much as possible to remain hidden.

They reached the palace without so much as a glimpse of the sea witch or any of her minions. In fact, the palace itself looked abandoned and completely silent. They exchanged worried and cautious glances before slowly swimming into one of the windows. Eric was completely beyond amazed at the sight of the palace that Ariel called her home…he couldn't believe such a place existed without him knowing about it, or any human for that matter. Once again, he was frustrated that he had to keep his questions to himself on account of the situation.

She led him through various rooms and hallways before they reached a large and spacious room that had columns lining both sides as well as what looked like a throne at the middle.

"They're gone," Ariel said finally, her voice some-what echoing in the vast room.

"Who?" he turned to her.

She looked all about her in complete worry.

"Everyone was here before I left…now this place is completely empty?" she finished in question.

"That is where you're wrong princess!"

They whirled around to see that Ursula just seemed to magically appear out of nowhere, as well as a few of her skeletal soldiers.

"But I must thank you for falling right into my trap," she did a bow. "Thank you, Your Highness."

Before they could do anything else, they were surrounded on all sides. Instinctively, Eric put himself between Ariel and the sea witch. She gave a laugh at the gesture.

"How cute…being the perfect gentleman. Willing to risk it all to save the one you love."

She then gave a huff and waved her hand. A swam of her minions came from nowhere, carrying a cage that contained Ariel's father and sisters.

"But are you willing to risk all that she has to save her?" she laughed hideously.

At the sight of her sister's Ariel started to swim for them but Eric grabbed her and held her back for her safety and glared at Ursula.

"Now I'm only going to ask this one more time," she started and extended her opened hand towards him. "Give me the trident," she said the words slowly.

After a short pause she added, "Or they all die."

They once again froze. How the heck would they get themselves out of this one? Ursula's impatience with them finally boiled over and she threw up her arms in anger.

"I've had enough with waiting!"

In an instance, all of the skeletal beings shot at Ariel and Eric. Ariel started to see everything in slow motion as they swam straight for her, ready to either take her captive or kill her with their spears and swords. The moment they were a little over a breath from her she let out a scream and clutched the shell to her chest in fear.

"MOTHER!"

It was as if the sun had fell into the ocean. A piercing and fiery pink light exploded from the shell, destroying all the minions on contact and blinding the sea witch.

"What is this!" she put her hand over her eyes.

The light was warm and did not blind Ariel as it seemed to be doing to everyone else. She gasped when she found herself staring at her mother's image before her.

"Ariel," the apparition said gently. "I'm always with you."

In another flash, the image disappeared and the light slowly faded. All eyes focused back on where the sudden light had come from only to gasp in shock to see a pink trident floating in front of Ariel.

**Done! The next chapter will be the LAST ONE! I'm so amazed where this story had taken me (it's completely different that what I had originally planned) Please push that beautiful green button down there and let me know your thoughts. Thanks for reading!**


	9. Our Journey

**It's finally here. This story has been so exciting for me to write and it's all thanks to magnificent readers like you who have encouraged me and kept me writing when I wasn't sure if I could. I honestly can't thank you all enough. I hope that this ending can live up to your expectations. It's been a pleasure to share this story with you all.**

**I'm going to thank all of you who have ever sent me a review or added me to your favorite author or story. And so for one last time here we go. Special thanks to you all. **kutlessgurl90, JippyJars, Music24601, wolfgirl1012, Converse r life, MermaidRaven, Daydreamer747, deejaymcknight, xAshbellax, toons27, Whiteling, xJadeRainx, Lucia Rayne, Daniela24446, projektrevolution20, Team Guy of Gisborne, treefrugger, toons27, annmarie, -BrambleChasing, Yuuki-Kuran of the Knight, farah, barlowgirlfan16, brdwygrl15, LeMcCHaStar4ever, KittenCeez, blueyblonde, Anna Marie Raven, Mel, Sparkly-Vampire-Wannabe, J, disneyqueen.

**You guys rock pure and simple. Thank you for sticking it out. Enjoy. You guys deserve it. : D**

Ariel stared at the glowing pink trident in total shock. Seriously, what had just happened! One minute she was crying out to her mother then she saw her mother and now there were two tridents!

"…t-that's Athena's!" her father exclaimed.

"Mother's trident?" she repeated the words in a whisper.

Eventually, she slowly reached out object as if in a possessed state and her hand firmly grasped it. The moment her hand touched it, she was overwhelmed with warmth as the light from it seemingly transferred from it to her body, enveloping her in a pink aura.

_"Combine the powers."_

Her mother's voice flooded her mind and she looked about her as if to try and see her.

"Mother…"

_"Ariel it's up to you."_

"Mother!" she shouted and gripped the trident. "Where are you? Are you here?"

_"Ariel you must combine their powers and save Atlantica…only you can."_

"What do you mean? Combine what?"

She received no response and was painfully brought back the present when one of Ursula's minions grabbed her from behind, immediately dispelling the light around her. She let out a scream and tried to wriggle free. Eric acted quickly and smacked the skeletal being off of Ariel before putting his arm around he and pulling her to him in protection. She clung to him in fear before turning her attention back to Ursula who was a little bit past confused at the moment.

"Two tridents!" she bellowed.

She then turned back to Triton.

"Care to explain, Your Majesty?" she said with anger.

The sea witch let out breath of frustration and ran a hand through her hair.

"Today sure has been one hell of a day, let me tell you!"

She turned her full attention to Ariel and Eric with nothing but pure malice.

"You know," she began, and started to slowly swim towards the couple. "I was going to just make you both my slaves for the rest of your lives…"

Eric pushed Ariel behind him and held up the trident in defense, though he had no idea how to actually use it; albeit he had no idea if he even could.

"…though now I'm going to make this easier on myself and just kill you."

With his concentration on the sea witch he was blind to help Ariel when she was suddenly snatched away from him by more of Ursula's minions who seemed to just keep coming out of nowhere. Eric turned back in surprise to help but then felt the sea witch wrap a tentacle around his waist, pinning his arms at his side in the process.

"Eric!" Ariel reached out to him as he was brought closer to Ursula and eventually out of her reach.

He turned back in fear as to what would happen now. He was concerned for himself but he was far more concerned for Ariel now that he couldn't protect her at the moment.

Ursula whirled Eric around to face her evil smile.

"I do believe that you have something of mine," she looked down at his hand that gripped the trident.

Ariel was restless, as it seemed that Ursula was going to win this. If she got that trident then Ariel's life would be destroyed. Once again, all of this weighed heavy upon her young heart, as it was all because of her. God knows what she would do to her world. Would she kill her and Eric like she promised? If so, what about her family? Would they be left to suffer and become slaves of the sea witch? The thoughts made her shake in uncontrollable fear.

And what would become of her home…her race of people? Would she destroy her palace and kill off her people. And then she thought of Eric and how it was entirely her fault that he had gotten involved with this. She had to do something…she had to!

She gripped the trident harder and felt the tears of anguish threatening to push over her lids. She was only sixteen! She was still a child to this world. What could she possibly do?

Little did she know, these same thoughts were going through everyone's mind. Was this really the end?

Ursula's tentacles slowly started their way down towards her sought out prized possession. Eric struggled to free his arms but to no avail against her iron grip. Ursula's tentacle was mere inches away from taking the trident, and with it, all of Atlantica's hope at a future of peace and prosperity.

It was then, that something deep inside of Ariel broke. Deep within her, she released all of her bottled up emotions, like a dam bursting with unending floods of water, so too her emotions knew no bounds.

"NO!"

Her shout pierced the still silence that had settled. Ursula's approaching appendage sharply froze as she cast her glance towards the mermaid princess. Actually, all eyes of the room were now on Ariel. She was looking down at the trident that she had clutched firmly to herself.

"I won't let it end this way…I won't!"

She looked to Eric and then to her sisters and finally to her Father.

"This is all my fault…every last bit of it!"

Ursula gave a laugh.

"Glad you finally—"

"Shut up!"

The comment jerked the sea witch into a shocked silence at the sting of the usually calm and quiet mermaid.

"I refuse to let you win…I love my family and Eric more than anything in the world and I will do whatever it takes to protect them."

It was then that her trident came alive with that same pink fluorescent glow. The guards holding her back were immediately destroyed once the light touched them, and she was free once again.

It seemed that when her trident lit up, it caused a reaction in Eric's as it also lit up. It was then that the knowledge of what she needed to do flooded into her. By now, the light from Eric's trident had released him from Ursula's grasp as she cowered away from the pain it was causing her. Eric looked down at the instrument in confusion before he turned to find Ariel at his side.

"Eric…I understand now."

He turned to her fully and looked down at she took his hand in hers and gave him a smile when he looked back up. She then held her trident up to him. He couldn't explain how he knew what to do at that time, but he did. He rose his trident up to hers and their glowing auras magnified for a moment before they shot into each other and became one with a magnificent orange shine.

Moving in unison, they both reached out and grasped the object firmly with one hand.

"W-what is this!" Ursula moved back a ways in fear.

Eric moved over to Ariel and put his arm around her at her waist and pulled her to him as they held the trident in between them both, aiming it at the sea witch. She suddenly became very small to everyone looking on as she cowered in the corner. All the fear was displaced with anger and courage to step up to the demon that threatened to destroy their future.

It was then that everything became very still and quiet for a moment as all eyes drew to the young couple holding the mysterious orange trident.

In an explosion of light and magic, the trident released a concentrated beam that shot straight towards the sea witch and pierced her through her heart. She let out a horrid ear-piercing scream before the light engulfed her and she faded away in the brightness of the impact. The explosion spread out and engulfed all of her minions and destroyed them just as horribly as their maker. The light stayed around for a while before it eventually faded and returned to the trident. The trident's flash also destroyed the cage that held Ariel's family but they remained still as the shock of what happened rested with them.

The orange trident gave one last glow before it separated back into two tridents. From there, the pink trident turned back into a pink seashell that landed in Ariel's outstretched hand.

Ariel broke the silence, though unintentionally, as she was suddenly overcome with a feeling of fatigue and started to slip from Eric's embrace. He snapped from his reverie of what happened and reached out to catch her, finally letting go of the trident. He caught her safely in his arms and pulled her close to him, taking note of how much easier it was to do so while underwater.

The trident slowly floated down and was caught by its rightful owner, who looked it over for a moment before brining his eyes back up to his daughter.

"Ariel," Eric whispered in concern as he looked her over.

The couple had slowly floated down until they were at the seafloor, Ariel lying across his arms bridal-style. She was breathing normally, and her eyelids were fluttering somewhat, so he wasn't completely worried that there was something horribly wrong with her.

She then made a small noise and her eyes slowly opened and he gave a smile of relief, raising a hand to her cheek. The moment she felt his hand she gave a very small jump and turned to see him smiling down at her.

"We did it," she whispered, finally giving him a smile.

He pulled her flush against him and tightly wrapped his arms around her. The movement caused everyone to break into cheer and applause. It was over; they were safe.

Ariel's sisters finally broke out of their state of reverie and shot towards their sister, swiftly taking them out of Eric's arms and into a six-way embrace of their own.

"Ariel you did it!" some of them shouted in happiness.

Eric smiled at the sight as their laughter filled the air. Once she was free from her sister's hugs, mind you it was a while, she immediately swam over and embraced her father in a fierce hug.

"Daddy I'm so sorry for everything!" she finally cried out to him.

He gave a fatherly laugh and embraced her with tender love.

"Ariel…it's because of you we're safe again. I'm so proud of you."

"It was mother…I saw her," she pulled away to look at him. "She gave me the trident," she said, looking down at her hand that held the pink shell.

He took his hand and rolled hers into a fist before putting his on it with love.

"And she will continue to watch over you and all of us with love," he finished with tears in his eyes.

Ariel embraced her father again, and then the rest of her sisters all joined in on the hug as all of Atlantica cheered.

Eric let a laugh escape him when Ariel came bounding out of the hug and back into his open and awaiting arms. He reveled in the feeling of warmth she brought to him with the knowledge that they were finally free from anything standing in the way of their love. With that, he pulled away and directed her face to his with a deep and passionate kiss. Ariel moved her arms up and wrapped them around his neck as he securely wrapped his around her upper back and waist. They went at it for a while, sharing many deep kisses and it was at this point in time that they came to find something out.

They never ran out of breath.

With water being their oxygen, and the fact that they were surrounded by it, meant they could never run out. The finding came as a rather pleasant surprise to both of them and instead of breaking apart to ponder it, they merely continued to go at it, uncaring that all of Atlantica was watching them. Triton merely coughed a bit as his other daughters looked on with squeals of delight and were content in having their girly moments.

Eventually, the scene turned to one of celebration and a massive party. All of Atlantica was in on the celebration of freedom from the sea witch and the meaning of a future of peace. Well, actually not all were attending the party in the throne room. Eric and Ariel had retired to her room to do some long needed talking. Eric was sitting on her bed, watching her as she gazed out her window with a smile on her face.

"I can't believe all that's happened!" she exclaimed and turned back to him.

He looked at her with an equal smile.

"Yeah…but I'm extremely shocked beyond words to be a merman right now, Ariel!" he laughed and glanced down at his fin.

His fin…he couldn't believe he would ever say that…or see it… or be in this situation entirely.

It's funny what adrenaline and being in a dire situation does to your ability to focus, think clearly, and maintain details. Ariel was now finally able to focus on Eric without distraction and…well…let's keep in mind the knowledge we know of Eric's (ahem) physique and the fact that Ariel is a girl.

She merely found herself staring, and probably internally drooling, at the sight of his toned form and complimenting blue tail. He was by far the most handsome merman she could ever dream up in her little imagination and she might have laughed at that statement (considering he wasn't a merman actually) if she weren't so distracted.

Quite by chance, Eric finally turned to catch her staring at him without a word and a blank expression on her features.

"What?" he gave a laugh.

Actually, she was so deep in her reverie that she didn't even hear him and didn't notice that he was now looking at her. And not too long after, he was now right in front of her, his hand on her cheek with a smile. He knew full well now what was wrong with her and you know he was going to tease her a bit about it.

"See something you like?"

His comment snapped her completely out of her spacey state and she found herself wrapped in his arms. To make it happily worse for her, she soon came to realize that her hands were resting against his nicely shaped chest. (**A/N:** ha, this is fun to write.)

Her mind flew back and finally gripped the comment he made and she was set aflame in a massive blush.

"N-no!" she shook her head and averted her eyes. "I was just thinking."

Well she literally backed into that one.

"I know that, Ariel," he smiled wider. "And I think I know what about too."

She felt her cheeks continue to rise in temperature and she gave a small huff.

"Well I can't blame you," he then said with fake pride. "I am pretty irresistible."

She looked up at him in surprise and disbelief that he really went there.

"Someone's full of themselves," she raised a brow and folded her arms, breaking his embrace on her.

"What?" he shrugged. "You can't tell me you've never noticed."

She raised her brow and him and gave him a quick roll of hers eyes.

"Eric."

He gave an impish grin.

"Yes?"

"Shut up and just kiss me you idiot."

He gave a quick laugh before crashing his lips to hers as they buried themselves in the love they shared for each other. Without much care of how they got there, they eventually found themselves lying on her bed as they continued to enjoy the benefits of underwater kissing.

And, just as soon as they started to really get at, it they were sharply interrupted when Eric was ripped from Ariel by six giddy sisters.

"Wow you guys are hot and heavy!" Adella laughed. "No time for that now! It's party time!"

"What's wrong with you guys?" Ariel exclaimed in frustration.

"Nothing," they all chimed in unison in a rather creepy way.

Before another word was spoken, Ariel was dragged out of the room, leaving Eric and Attina along; this was actually planned.

"Sorry about the way they go about doing things," Attina said with a hand to her face in embarrassment. "But father wanted me to ask you to speak with him if you have some free time?"

The question sparked a little fear in Eric, and rightfully so.

"You're not in trouble, he wanted me to assure you of that," he then added with a laugh at Eric's unsettled expression.

"Okay," he said finally, though he had to bite back a nervous shudder.

"Right this way."

With that, they left Ariel's room and Attina led him past the throne room to a smaller grouping of rooms and then finally to a balcony that was rather high up in the palace. Waiting on the balcony was King Triton. Attina had left without saying anything, and really that did not help. He was getting nervous by just he thought of talking with the legendary King Triton. I mean…really? What the heck do you even say?

As if sensing his presence behind him, Triton turned about and beckoned him closer with a hand gesture. Swallowing the large lump in his throat, Eric swam closer and stopped once he was side by side with him and he was struck with the notion of how much of a large merman Ariel's father actually was up close. Really, this did not help matters for him.

"Eric," he said, turning to him finally.

It took Eric a moment to realize that he had extended his hand to him and he quickly and firmly shook it.

"I guess I can finally say it's nice to meet you."

He wasn't too sure what Triton meant by that but he remained silent and decided to talk only when it seemed like he wanted him to.

"Can't say I saw this coming either," he then said, with a glance out over his kingdom. "…that I'd say this either."

With that he turned to face him fully.

"Thank you…for saving my kingdom and my daughter," he said sincerely.

He didn't know how, but all the nerves he was feeling suddenly vanished and he gave a genuine smile and nod.

"Really we all have your daughter to thank."

Triton smiled in a warm and fatherly way.

"And her mother…but yes. She really is something special."

"That's what I love about her."

The comment was rather sudden but Eric didn't regret saying it, even with the look of surprise that passed over Triton's face for a moment.

"You really love her."

The statement was rather a question…one that you could tell he couldn't believe but found completely amazed by in knowing it was entirely true.

"I do," Eric said without hesitation.

"You a human," he then added with an inward laugh at the ridiculous of it all. "…and even in knowing her real identity you really still love her."

Eric merely smiled, knowing they were most likely rhetorical questions if they weren't statements.

Triton glanced over at Eric's expression and gave a deep laugh.

"You'll have to forgive me for a moment, young man. But it's just so hard to believe it when it's coming from a human."

Eric didn't understand fully why humans and merpeople together completely flabbergasted the elderly King, but he chose better to not ask. And actually, he was rewarded with the answer with his patience.

"Has Ariel ever talked much about her mother to you?"

He shook his head and Triton unveiled the story of how she was taken away from them by humans. Eric felt truly and utterly horrible for the fact that his kind had done that to his girlfriend and her family. He then understood how him still standing before the King in one piece and not having been blasted to a million pieces by now was another miracle on a day that seemed to be bursting with them.

The silence after the story weighed on them for a while before Eric broke it. He knew that it was starting to draw closer to the time where he knew he needed to return to his world, though he had to admit he really wanted to stay down here and explore with Ariel for a while. Regardless, Italy can't run for long without it's ruler and not to mention Carlotta, Grim and the whole kingdom still had no clue as to what happened to him. He had a lot of things to do and he thought the moment was right to start working on the most important task of all…and of his life.

"Your Majesty?"

After a pause, the King turned to him with question.

"There's something I need to ask you."

* * * * * * *

The festivities eventually faded out and Ariel and Eric returned to the surface, along with Triton and her sisters, to return them both to human form. Ariel was still a bit surprised that her father had decided to turn her back to human to be with Eric but she wasn't complaining by any means now! Carlotta and Grim nearly had simultaneous heart attacks upon finding the truth behind their disappearance. Seriously, they came close to death a couple of times like any other person would. I mean, they first found out that Ariel was a mermaid and that they really existed, and then they found out that Eric had been turned into one and that together, he and she saved the world from utter chaos and inevitable destruction. Phew, take two and call me in the morning.

Eric was changed first and he was a bit wobbly on his feet but soon managed to readapt. He then took a sudden leave from them and told Ariel he would be right back. Ariel was changed and she held her dress up (**A/N:** let's say it's the purple one from the movie) and waded out knee deep to talk with her family.

Her sisters looked at her in wonder and subtle amusement in her human form. They didn't know much about the weird things humans wore over them but they thought she looked really pretty. They pretty much held small talk and such, and she answered the multitude of questions her sisters were throwing at her about the human world. After a little longer, Eric came back and was changed into something that more suited a Prince than the clothes he was in. (**A/N:** let's go with what he wears in TLM2)

"Well look at you," Ariel giggled when he put his arm around her waist after she waded out of the water to meet him. "Pretty sharp."

He laughed and gave her a squeeze.

"Believe me I don't like wearing this stuff too much."

"Well then why change?" she laughed again. "Who you trying to impress Eric?" she said with a teasing edge.

"Well actually…it's because this moment is special."

Ariel blinked at him a few times with the sudden change in his voice and actions. He had turned to face her fully, both his hands holding hers between them, and he was giving her an emotion so deep she couldn't really decipher.

"Ariel…I know we've only know each other for a few days…but I feel like I've know you forever…like I've waited for you for a lifetime."

Ariel watched him carefully, her smile growing at his gentle and loving words.

"But I know without a doubt that I love you more than anything this world has to offer. I don't want a day to go by where I don't see your smile or hear your laugh…or get a change to hold you close to me."

"Eric…" she said in a loving whisper, in awe of why he was saying these things.

He fell silent for a moment and they stared deeply into each other's eyes. One looking on in loving confusion and the other looking on in loving determination.

It was then that Eric, slowly and very cautiously, lowered down to one knee. (**A/N: **Now we are going to assume they do this in Atlantica too because I love it.)

The gesture caused a wave of gasps to erupt all around. Ariel immediately felt the tears forming in her eyes and her breathing somewhat stopped. All that mattered was this moment. Eric let go of Ariel's right hand, to which she put over her mouth in pure elated shock, and took her left one, his other holding up the most beautiful ring Ariel had ever laid eyes on. It was gold banded, with two blue diamonds on either side of a larger white heart-shaped stone in the middle.

"Ariel…will you marry me…make me the happiest and luckiest guy in the world?" he finished, now beaming with complete love and joy.

"Oh…Eric," she breathed out the words, still trying to catch her breaths. "Eric! Yes…yes of course I will!"

He smiled wider, if that were possible, before slowly placing the ring over her finger. He let out a laugh as the moment he stood, Ariel tackled him into an embrace like no other. He spun her about as their happiness knew no bounds. Ariel's family watched on, not a dry eye in the house, with love for their joy and prominent future that they would share.

When he finally set her down, they wasted no time and closing the distance between them with a kiss to end them all. Eric securely pressed her as close as he could and she smiled and ran her hands through his hair, messing it up from his neat combing of it but like hell he cared! She then ran her hands down and rested one around his neck and the other on his shoulder. They shared many but just kept going at it. At one point they both laughed in between their embraces, this was what Heaven was like on Earth. Nearing the end of their entourage, Eric placed a hand behind her head and deepened the kiss to the fullest, momentarily leaving her breathless before she happily melted into it until they finally broke it, giving each other blissful smiles.

* * * * * * *

The sun eventually started to make it's decent on the horizon as Ariel watched it from Eric's balcony. She was content…no. She was more than that. Looking back at all that had happened she was so amazed that her story had a happy ending. And then again, 'happy' just wasn't the right word. It was more like perfect ending. One you would only dream about but know deep inside it wouldn't happen.

Seeing the dashing pink sprinkled rays of the dipping sun she was reminded of her mother and how much she had helped her.

"Oh mother," she smiled and closed her eyes. "I miss you…but I know you're watching over me."

And really how couldn't you think that after all that had happened with her mother's trident appearing and giving her the knowledge to save everyone.

She gave a soft laugh and cast her gaze out over the ocean as it seemingly continued to swallow the sun. It was odd to be seeing her home from above but it would be something she would grow to love. She had chosen a life on land but she would always be near the sea, and it would always be a part of her; it would always take her back with open arms when she chose to visit. And her father and sisters had insisted her not to be shy about visiting either.

She was purely amazed that her father had let her become the one thing he despised more than anything, not to mention spend the rest of her life married to one. She knew that he would understand eventually, and supposed that she saw Eric's love for her when he continually risked his life for her and how much they did truly love each other.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a slight rapping on the windows behind her and turned to see Eric emerging with a smile. He had been busy all day with getting caught up from his un-planned leave from his kingdom. Not to mention he was busy planning for their upcoming wedding.

He came up and embraced her from behind, burying his face in her hair and taking in her gentle scent before breathing out in happiness. She closed her eyes in content to his touch that she knew she would never grow tired of; she lifted up a hand and placed it on his cheek.

"It's beautiful," she said finally, looking at the sunset.

She felt him leave from behind her and then he joined her at her side with his arm around her before he pulled her to him in an embrace as they looked out to sea.

"Eric I'm so happy," she turned and buried her face into his chest and felt him give her a squeeze.

"Me too, Ariel. I love you so much."

She felt bliss at hearing those simple words from him and he felt the same when she said them back.

And so they stood there, looking at the first sunset of many to come for the future they would share with one another. It all started with that one faithful night she was bold enough to come down to him in he nighttime. Since then, they had formed a bond that would never be broken, only strengthened through time with the promise of always being with each other no matter what obstacles life threw their way. That is what love is. It was love that set them both out on this crazy adventure and it's what found them both here at the end, together to stay forever.

He slowly bent her face up and captured her lips in a gentle kiss and he knew that he would enjoy waking up to her every morning, and seeing her smiling at him every night for the rest of his days.

This journey…she would do it all over again if she had to. The pain that she had endured was more than made up for with moments like this with her Prince.

As the day slowly faded around them, they retired inside and were both happy to spend their first night together with each other. As they settled under the covers, Eric quickly brought her close to him and sighed in perfect content, kissing her forehead.

"I love you so much my little mermaid," he whispered in her ear, feeling her shiver slightly in his embrace.

"And I love you, Eric. More than you'll ever know."

She reached up and gave him another kiss that he happily deepened before they broke apart and closed their eyes.

"Promise you'll never let me go," came her soft voice.

They shared another kiss and he whispered he never would.

And so they slowly drifted off into sleep, knowing they would be together till the end of their days. This was their journey. They would embark on it with each other, slowly learning new things everyday and loving each other more and more in the process. It was all too perfect and surreal. No sun could outshine them; no force could overpower them. They would make mistakes and get mad at each other from time to time; they knew this. But someone once told me, "Being in love means never having to say 'I'm sorry."

Thank you for being a part of this story with me. May true love find you all too : D . God Bless.


End file.
